Former Cargo Ship Captain Pleads Guilty to Drugging and Raping a Merchant Marine Cadet at Sea

A Guilty Plea Moments Before Trial

John Merrone, 53, a former cargo ship captain, pleaded guilty on July 15, 2026, to drugging and raping a 21-year-old U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadet during a training voyage in 2019. The plea came in federal court in Brooklyn just as his trial was about to begin. A jury had been seated. The victim, identified only as Jane Doe by the Associated Press, was in the courthouse waiting to testify.

Merrone pleaded guilty to five charges, including aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact. Watching from the courtroom gallery, the former cadet wept as Merrone said guilty to each count. Her attorney, Ryan Melogy, said she turned to him afterward and told him it was over.

The Invitation: Come Up for a Soda

According to prosecutors, the assault took place on September 9, 2019, during a voyage aboard the cargo ship Liberty Glory, a 623-foot vessel traveling from Bahrain to Corpus Christi, Texas. Merrone had been sending the cadet and another student Facebook messages for weeks before they boarded the vessel for the Sea Year training program.

On the night of the assault, prosecutors said Merrone messaged the two women and asked them to come to his room for a soda. The cadet had initially declined - in a message to the captain, she wrote that he knew she stayed away from soda - but she and her fellow student eventually went. The captain poured them each a drink from an already open bottle of alcohol, then opened a new bottle and poured one for himself. Shortly after, both women lost recollection of the rest of the evening.

What the Cadet Found the Next Morning

The cadet woke the next morning in her bed, wearing only a shirt and bra, missing her pants and underwear. She felt nauseous, had a headache, and felt vaginal discomfort, prosecutors said. Later that morning, Merrone called her to his room and told her he had had fun the previous night and asked if she would do it again.

When the cadet told him she didn’t remember what happened and that whatever had occurred was not consensual, Merrone offered her money. She declined. He later sent her a photograph of herself holding money from the night of the assault - she did not recall the photo being taken. He also came to her room and pulled from his pocket the underwear she had been wearing the night of the assault.

Seven Years From Crime to Courtroom

The assault occurred in 2019. Merrone was not arrested and charged until years later, after federal investigators built a case that included multiple other women who had accused Merrone of sexual assaults over the span of three decades. Prosecutors had planned to call those other witnesses at trial.

The Sea Year program - under which cadets are required to work on commercial vessels as part of their academy training - had been suspended twice in connection with assault allegations involving cadets. The program resumed after the academy implemented additional safety protocols, including providing cadets with satellite phones during voyages and conducting confidential exit interviews with cadets returning from assignments.

Sentencing Ahead

Merrone faces a potential sentence of up to life in prison on the charges to which he pleaded guilty. Federal sentencing guidelines, according to the assistant U.S. attorney assigned to the case, call for a sentence of approximately 15 to 19 years. The guidelines are advisory, and the sentencing judge will make the final determination. A sentencing date had not been set as of the date of the plea.

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy issued a statement saying the institution was proud of the survivor’s courage. The school said it had been working with Congress and industry partners to further strengthen protections for cadets during Sea Year assignments. The victim’s attorney said the case illustrated how difficult it was to prosecute crimes that occurred at sea, far from any land-based jurisdiction.

References: Captain Pleads Guilty to Drugging and Raping US Merchant Marine Academy Cadet at Sea | Ship Captain Pleads Guilty in Merchant Marine Cadet Rape Case