John Merrone Pleads Guilty in Maritime Sexual Assault Case

Former ship captain John Merrone pleaded guilty July 15 to all five federal charges against him, ending a rare maritime sexual assault prosecution shortly before opening statements were scheduled to begin in Brooklyn.

A jury had been selected. The survivor, identified here as Jane, was at the federal courthouse and prepared to testify. Prosecutors also planned to call several other women who have accused Merrone of sexual assaults dating back three decades.

Merrone pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse and three counts of abusive sexual contact. The charges arose from his drugging and sexual assault of a 21-year-old U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadet aboard the Liberty Glory in 2019.

“Jane drank alcohol, I knowingly gave her an intoxicant without her knowledge or consent,” Merrone told the court. “Jane became incapacitated. I then had sex with her without her consent.”

Merrone faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

“It’s Over”

Jane watched from the courtroom gallery as Merrone pleaded guilty to each charge.

Merrone appeared in court in a wheelchair and wore a head covering. An Associated Press photograph showed him being wheeled from the courthouse after the hearing.

Women who knew Merrone while he worked as a captain told MLAA that he did not use a wheelchair aboard ship. MLAA could not independently determine why he used one in court.

Afterward, she turned to her attorney, Ryan Melogy, and said, “It’s over,” according to the Associated Press.

“We were surprised,” Melogy told Courthouse News. “I think the government had a very strong case. They were extraordinarily prepared.”

Melogy has represented Jane for six years. He also represented Hope Hicks, formerly known as Midshipman-X, a member of Jane’s USMMA class, and other women who were prepared to testify against Merrone.

Hicks came forward anonymously in 2021 with an account of being raped by a senior officer during her Sea Year training. Her disclosure brought national attention to sexual violence aboard commercial vessels.

“It took extraordinary courage for Hope to come forward publicly, and it took a different kind of courage for Jane to keep going for nearly seven years, through an investigation that initially went nowhere, all the way to the steps of a federal courtroom,” Melogy told MLAA. “She was ready to testify. He knew she was ready. I believe that was a decisive factor in his decision to plead guilty.”

The guilty pleas spared Jane and the other women from having to testify publicly.

Merrone pleads guilty before trial

Associated Press video coverage of John Merrone’s guilty plea in Brooklyn federal court.

The Assault Aboard the Liberty Glory

The assault occurred Sept. 9, 2019, while Jane was completing the academy’s mandatory Sea Year training aboard the Liberty Glory, a U.S.-flagged commercial vessel commanded by Merrone.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Merrone summoned Jane and another female cadet to his stateroom for a “soda.” He poured each of them an alcoholic drink from an already open bottle. Both women soon lost their memory of the rest of the evening.

Prosecutors said Jane awoke the next morning in her bed wearing a shirt and bra, but no pants or underwear. She was nauseated, had a headache and felt as though someone had had sex with her.

Merrone later called her back to his stateroom, told her he had “fun last night” and asked her to do it again, prosecutors said. When she told him she could not remember what happened, he replied that “one thing led to another.”

Jane told Merrone she had not consented. Prosecutors said he then offered her money, which she refused.

After returning to the United States, Jane told her mother and a friend about the assault and sought medical attention. She reported the crime to law enforcement in 2021.

At his plea hearing, Merrone admitted that he knowingly gave Jane an intoxicant without her knowledge or consent, caused her to become incapacitated and had sex with her without her consent.

CBS New York reports on Merrone’s guilty plea

CBS New York coverage of the federal maritime sexual assault case.

A Rare Prosecution

Melogy has described the Merrone case as the first Justice Department prosecution in more than 40 years involving sexual assault aboard a U.S. commercial cargo ship.

The Justice Department has not independently described the prosecution as the first of its kind. Federal authorities have prosecuted sexual assaults aboard other types of vessels, including cruise ships. Criminal cases involving sexual violence against working mariners aboard U.S.-flagged commercial cargo vessels remain rare.

Sexual assaults at sea can occur thousands of miles from land and beyond the immediate reach of police or medical services. A vessel operator may control potential evidence. Witnesses may disperse across several jurisdictions after a voyage. Survivors can remain aboard the same ship as the person who assaulted them.

“Sex crimes are notoriously difficult to prosecute in general,” Melogy said. “When they occur in the middle of the ocean aboard a ship, the level of difficulty involved in prosecuting them probably increases exponentially.”

Jane reported Merrone to law enforcement in 2021. On Oct. 7, 2022, CNN published an investigation detailing the allegations against him.

Merrone later surrendered his Merchant Mariner Credential. Federal prosecutors obtained an indictment against him in May 2025.

He pleaded guilty nearly seven years after the assault.

Why the Case Reached Court

Prosecutors had evidence beyond Jane’s account. Merrone made statements to her after the assault. Electronic messages documented his communications with the cadets. Jane sought medical attention and later reported the crime to law enforcement.

Other women were prepared to testify about their own allegations against Merrone. Public reporting brought sustained attention to the case, and additional accusers came forward.

The prosecution confirms that federal sexual abuse laws can reach crimes committed aboard U.S. commercial vessels at sea. It does not establish that the institutional barriers exposed by the case have been eliminated.

A similar report might not include electronic messages, statements from the accused or additional women prepared to testify. It also might not receive years of advocacy and national media attention.

Merrone’s guilty pleas brought accountability in this case. How authorities will respond when the evidence is less extensive or the allegations receive little public attention remains uncertain.

Changes Under the Safer Seas Act

Reports of sexual assault and harassment at sea helped build support for stronger protections aboard U.S.-flagged vessels.

The Safer Seas Act, signed into law in December 2022, requires vessel owners, operators and masters to report allegations of sexual assault, sexual harassment and harassment to the Coast Guard. It also added evidence preservation procedures, penalties for failing to report and requirements for companies to document their response.

Merrone was prosecuted under federal sexual abuse statutes that existed when the assault occurred in 2019. The Safer Seas Act was not the legal basis for the charges against him.

The law also gave the Coast Guard greater authority to remove mariners found to have committed sexual misconduct. A recent MLAA investigation found that the agency did not use that authority to permanently revoke Mark Stinziano’s credential, even after a federal administrative judge found that he had committed abusive sexual contact against a cadet.

The Coast Guard did not file a new complaint under the Safer Seas Act. In April 2026, it returned Stinziano’s Merchant Mariner Credential.

The Stinziano case shows that stronger statutory authority does not guarantee enforcement. The Coast Guard and Justice Department already have significant authority to act against sexual misconduct at sea. Whether they will consistently use it is a separate question.

Mariners and cadets can review MLAA’s guide to reporting sexual harassment and assault to the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Investigative Service.

Sentencing Set for December

Merrone faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

Prosecutors calculated an advisory federal sentencing range of 188 to 235 months. Merrone’s attorneys disputed the government’s calculation.

Merrone and his lawyers, Bruce Barket and Nicole Aloise, declined to comment after leaving the courthouse.

U.S. District Judge Ramon E. Reyes Jr. scheduled sentencing for Dec. 22. Merrone will remain free on a $200,000 bond until then, according to Courthouse News.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kayla Bensing and Rachel Bennek of the Eastern District of New York’s Human Trafficking and Civil Rights Section prosecuted the case.

“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.

“It is my hope that today’s guilty plea will give the survivor of this attack some measure of closure knowing that the defendant has been held accountable for his despicable conduct.”

MLAA will update this report after Merrone is sentenced.

News Coverage and Primary Sources

The guilty plea received extensive coverage from national, New York and maritime news organizations.

The New York Post used its characteristic tabloid style, describing Merrone as a “sicko cargo-ship captain” and calling his decision to plead guilty an “11th-hour plea deal.” Newsday covered the case through its Long Island and Kings Point beat. The New York Daily News reported that Merrone entered the unexpected plea minutes before his trial was to begin.