A former Parris Island Marine drill instructor that was sentenced to prison in 2017 for hazing recruits and released early on good behavior has recently been arrested and charged with a separate crime in South Carolina.
During his time as a former gunnery sergeant at Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Parris Island, South Carolina, Joseph Anthony Felix was accused and subsequently found guilty of abusing recruits, leading to the death of one in 2017.
On Jan. 25, Felix was arrested by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office under the charge of cruelty to children, according to a redacted copy of the incident report shared with Military Times by the office.
According to the incident report, the officer that responded to the scene found the victim to have severe abrasions on his neck area, like “something had scraped it with extensive force.”
Felix was booked into the Beaufort County Detention center but was released on bond the next day, Lt. Daniel Allen, a spokesperson for the office, said in a statement to Military Times.
The court date is currently scheduled for March 12 in Beaufort Magistrate Court, but that can change, according to Allen.
Felix served in the Marine Corps for 15 years and is an Afghanistan and Iraq War veteran.
‘The more you hate them, the better you train them’
In November 2017, Felix was sentenced to 10 years in prison after the abuse came to light a year prior in March 2016 after the death of Raheel Siddiqui, a recruit that plunged to his death after Felix slapped him.
Felix was accused of targeting Muslim recruits, like Siddiqui, during his time as drill instructor and witnesses in the 2017 trial testified that he would often call them “terrorists.”
In mid-March 2016, Siddiqui gave a note to his drill instructors saying he had a swollen sore throat and therefore could not speak the greeting of the day.
Felix forced Siddiqui to run from one end of the squad bay and back, and eventually, he collapsed while holding his throat.
Felix slapped Siddiqui across the face while he was on the floor and Siddiqui then ran to a nearby stairwell and leapt to his death.
The subsequent investigation could not determine if he was trying to kill himself or just trying to get away from Felix.
“You have to hate recruits to train them,” Felix told the investigator after Siddiqui’s death, claiming he intentionally treated Marines badly, according to Marine prosecutor Capt. Corey Wielert.
“They get three meals a day, sleep eight hours. The more you hate them, the better you train them,” he said.
Felix was also accused of targeting two other Muslim recruits, with witnesses saying they saw Felix kick one in the face and telling him, “Hey ISIS, get in the dryer.”
He then told the recruit, Rekan Hawaz, to climb inside the commercial dryer without turning it on.
Another Muslim recruit, Lance Cpl. Ameer Bourmeche, testified that Felix and another drill instructor, whose separate trial was in September 2017, ordered him to also climb inside a dryer and turned it on three times.
The drill instructors only let Bourmeche out after he said he was no longer a Muslim, Bourmeche said.
‘He wasn’t making Marines, he was breaking Marines’
A former Democratic representative from Michigan, whose congressional district included Siddiqui’s hometown, released a statement in 2017, saying she has been working with the Marine Corps since his death that previous March.
“This young man was a son, brother, a class valedictorian and a patriot whose dream was to serve the country he loved and defend the freedoms many of us take for granted,” Rep. Debbie Dingell said in the statement.
“Instead, Raheel and other recruits were targeted, degraded and mistreated by the individual charged. As the prosecution stated in closing arguments, Sergeant Felix ‘wasn’t making Marines, he was breaking Marines,’” she continued.
After the court-martial sentenced Felix to 10 years in prison in November 2017, his rank was also reduced to E1, forfeiting pay and allowances, and was handed a dishonorable discharge.
Marine Corps officials said at the time that he was found guilty of maltreatment; violation of a lawful general order and dereliction of duty; making a false official statement; and drunk and disorderly conduct.
Felix was acquitted of obstruction of justice and one specification of violation of a general order.
He was held at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, until he was released three years early on Dec. 23, 2024 after the Naval Clemency and Parole Board approved Felix for Mandatory Supervised Release from prison on March 25, 2024.
Felix was released under the provision that he be supervised by the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services District of South Carolina for the remainder of his original 10-year sentence, meaning for the following three years, according to Task & Purpose reporting.
“The [United States Disciplinary Barracks] may not release the specific conditions of supervision,” a spokesperson told Task & Purpose. “However, as a matter of process, any potential violations are reviewed by the [U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services] and may result in the inmate’s return to confinement.”
The United States Disciplinary Barracks did not immediately return a request for comment.
Cristina Stassis is a reporter covering stories surrounding the defense industry, national security, military/veteran affairs and more. She previously worked as an editorial fellow for Defense News in 2024 where she assisted the newsroom in breaking news across Sightline Media Group.
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