Jury deciding sentence for abusive Marine drill instructor

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A Marine Corps jury on Friday is deciding whether a drill instructor should be sentenced to military prison time for choking, punching and otherwise tormenting recruits, especially Muslims, one of whom eventually hurled himself to his death down a stairwell.

The eight-man jury at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, also could sentence Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix to financial penalties and a dishonorable discharge.

The jury of five sergeants and three officers convicted the 34-year-old Iraq veteran Thursday of maltreatment of recruits at the Marine Corps' Parris Island, South Carolina, boot camp. The jurors determined that Felix abused more than a dozen recruits, zeroing in on three Muslim-American military volunteers he insulted as "terrorist" for special mistreatment.

Felix also was convicted of drunk and disorderly conduct and making false official statements for lying to investigators about his actions.

More than three dozen criminal counts described Felix as a central figure in an abusive group of drill instructors at Parris Island.

After the March 2016 suicide of one of the three Muslim-American recruits Felix targeted, a hazing investigation led to charges against Felix, five other drill instructors and the training battalion's commanding officer. Eleven others faced lesser, administrative discipline.

Felix had pleaded not guilty and did not testify during his trial.

The charges included commanding recruits to choke each other; ordering them to drink chocolate milk and then training them until they vomited; punching recruits in the face or kicking them to the ground; and twice ordering Muslim recruits into an industrial clothes dryer.

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