Former ship captain pleads guilty to drugging and sexual assault of USMMA cadet

Merrone pleaded guilty to all five counts of an indictment charging him with aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, and abusive sexual contact relating to the rape of a 21-year-old USMMA cadet (Jane Doe) working on a vessel under his command.   When sentenced, Merrone faces up to life in prison.   According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in September 2019, Jane Doe was aboard a commercial vessel as part of her participation in the USMMA Sea Year Program where cadets are assigned to a U.S.-flagged merchant vessel to obtain experience of being a merchant mariner.    The vessel was in the Atlantic Ocean bound for Corpus Christi, Texas. Merrone, then 47 years-old, was the highest-ranking official on the vessel.   On September 9, 2019, Merrone summoned Jane Doe and another female cadet to his stateroom for a soda and poured each of them an alcoholic drink from an open bottle. Shortly after consuming the drinks, Jane Doe and the fellow student lost recollection of the remainder of the evening. Jane Doe awoke the next morning in her bed wearing only a shirt and bra, and no underwear or pants. She felt nauseous, had a headache and felt like someone had had sex with her.      The next day, Merrone called Jane Doe to his stateroom and said that he had “fun last night” and asked her to do it again. Jane Doe told him that she did not recall what had happened, and Merrone told her “one thing led to another.”     Jane Doe reported the sexual assault to her mother and a friend when she returned to the United States, and sought medical attention.      She reported the attack to law enforcement in 2021.

At his guilty plea, the defendant admitted that he knowingly gave Jane Doe an intoxicant without her knowledge or consent, and she became incapacitated. He then had sex with her without her consent.      Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the guilty plea.      “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,” stated United States Attorney Nocella. “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.”       Mr. Nocella also expressed his appreciation to the United States Coast Guard for its investigative work on the case.   “Former Captain John Merrone grossly violated his authority by drugging and raping a U.S. Merchant Marine cadet training aboard his ship. The FBI is dedicated to holding accountable those in trusted roles from heinously abusing the brave servicemembers protecting this country,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle.      The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Human Trafficking and Civil Rights Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Kayla Bensing and Rachel Bennek are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of paralegal specialist Emily Woodruff.