Jury convicts Marine drill instructor of abusing recruits
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — A Marine Corps drill instructor was guilty of physically abusing a series of young recruits, sometimes while drunk, and focusing his fury on three Muslim-American military volunteers, a military jury decided Thursday.
The eight-man jury at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, determined that Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix was guilty of hazing and maltreatment of recruits at the Marine Corps’ Parris Island, South Carolina, boot camp. The jury of five sergeants and three officers decided Felix punched, kicked and choked military hopefuls.
The 34-year-old Iraq veteran could be sentenced to military prison, financial penalties and a dishonourable discharge. The jury was to begin sentencing deliberations Friday.
Felix was accused in more than three dozen criminal counts of being a central figure in an abusive group of drill instructors at Parris Island that came to light after the March 2016 suicide of one of the three Muslim-American recruits Felix targeted.