A former US merchant ship captain has pleaded guilty to drugging and sexually assaulting a 21-year-old U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadet aboard a commercial vessel, avoiding trial in a case that drew widespread scrutiny of sexual abuse in the maritime industry.
John Merrone pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday to all five counts of aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Merrone admitted knowingly giving the cadet an intoxicating substance without her knowledge or consent before sexually assaulting her aboard the U.S.-flagged cargo ship Liberty Glory in September 2019.
Merrone was the vessel’s master and the cadet was participating in the academy’s Sea Year programme, which places students aboard commercial ships for practical training.
Prosecutors said Merrone summoned the victim and another female cadet to his stateroom while the vessel was sailing through the Atlantic Ocean towards Corpus Christi, Texas, after departing Bahrain. After serving them alcoholic drinks from an open bottle, both women lost memory of the rest of the evening.
The victim awoke the following morning partially clothed and experiencing nausea and a headache, with indications that she had been sexually assaulted.
She later reported the incident to her mother and a friend and sought medical care before reporting the case to law enforcement in 2021.
“The defendant today admitted abusing his authority as a ship captain to carry out a heinous sexual assault on a young woman, who was under his supervision, as she embarked on a career as a mariner,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.
The FBI described the case as a profound abuse of trust, saying Merrone had grossly violated his authority by drugging and sexually assaulting a cadet under his command.
Federal charges were filed against Merrone in June 2025. Attorneys involved in the case described it as the first federal criminal prosecution for sexual assault aboard a U.S.-flagged commercial vessel in more than 40 years.
The case also intensified scrutiny of sexual assault and harassment within the U.S. maritime industry and at the Merchant Marine Academy.
Merrone had previously been convicted in Florida of false imprisonment and battery but continued working aboard commercial vessels while the academy continued assigning cadets to ships under his command.
Following public reports of the allegations in 2022, the American Maritime Officers union expelled Merrone.
He later surrendered his U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential and accepted a lifetime ban from the U.S. maritime industry.
The case emerged amid wider allegations of sexual assault during the academy’s Sea Year programme, prompting the temporary suspension of the programme in late 2021. It was later reinstated with new policies and safeguards aimed at protecting cadets from sexual assault and harassment.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.