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Death of Marine recruit Raheel Siddiqui: Officer pleads guilty

Lt. Col. Joshua Kissoon, whose court-martial had been set to begin at Quantico, Va., pleaded guilty to charges of dereliction of duty, making false official statements and conduct unbecoming an officer.
Credit: Family photo
Raheel Siddiqui, 20, of Taylor, died during U.S. Marines boot camp training in South Carolina in March 2016.

An officer who led the training battalion to which former Marine recruit Raheel Siddiqui of Taylor belonged before he died has pleaded guilty to three charges, the Marine Corps Times reported on Monday.

Lt. Col. Joshua Kissoon, whose court-martial had been set to begin at Quantico, Va., pleaded guilty to charges of dereliction of duty, making false official statements and conduct unbecoming an officer, the publication reported.

Related: Witness: Marine sergeant targeted recruit Raheel Siddiqui before death

Kissoon had been in charge of the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion at the Marines' base at Parris Island, S.C., two years ago when Siddiqui died in a three-story fall. Although his death has been ruled a suicide, Siddiqui's family continues to fight that finding, and, last November, Siddiqui's drill instructor, Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix, was found guilty of hazing and abusing recruits, including Siddiqui, whom he allegedly slapped just before his death.

Felix was sentenced to 10 years' confinement. Kissoon had been accused of failing to remove Felix from overseeing Siddiqui's platoon, even though Felix was being investigated for other incidents, including one in which he allegedly ordered another Muslim recruit into a dryer on the base and turned it on, burning him.

Kissoon had reportedly been told to remove Felix from having contact with recruits while the investigation was ongoing, the Marine Corps Times reported.

Related: Siddiqui family defends $100-million lawsuit against Marines

At sentencing on Monday, Capt. Charles Purnell, a Naval military judge, said that there was a "myriad failure of leadership" at Parris Island leading up to Siddiqui's death and in the investigations that uncovered other allegations of recruit abuse. The Marine Corps Times reported Purnell as saying Kissoon's actions were "one in a legion of contributing causes" to Siddiqui's death.

At his sentence, Kissoon, 48, was reprimanded and saw his pay reduced by $1,000 a month for five months. He also will file a request to retire as part of the agreement.

According to the publication, as part of a plea deal, Kissoon was not to receive any reduction in rank or prison sentence.

Siddiqui's family has filed a $100-million claim against the Marine Corps, alleging that negligence led to Siddiqui's death on March 18, 2016.

Siddiqui was apparently forced to run back and forth in a barracks despite claiming his throat was sore and bleeding and asking for medical attention before he collapsed to the ground. Investigators said it was then that Felix slapped him and Siddiqui ran out an exterior door and leaped over a stairwell. He died later at a Charleston, S.C. hospital.

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