• John Merrone, 53, a former cargo ship captain, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court to drugging and raping a 21-year-old U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadet during a 2019 training voyage.
  • Merrone admitted he knocked the cadet out with an intoxicant and had sexual intercourse with her without her consent “on the ship, in the middle of the ocean.”
  • The guilty plea came just as jury selection was set to begin, with the victim — identified only as Jane Doe — in the courthouse and prepared to testify.
  • Prosecutors had planned to call several other women who accused Merrone of sexual assaults over the last three decades.
  • Merrone had a prior conviction for false imprisonment and battery in a separate case involving a Florida Keys waitress, which an appeals court later overturned.

Guilty plea came as trial was about to start with jury already seated

The plea, entered July 15, came at the last possible moment before trial. A jury had already been selected. The victim, identified in court documents only as Jane Doe, was in the courthouse waiting to testify, according to the Associated Press.

In his admission, Merrone stated that he had sexual intercourse with the cadet without her consent “on the ship, in the middle of the ocean” after drugging her with an intoxicant. The assault took place in 2019 while the woman was assigned to his vessel as part of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s Sea Year training program, which places midshipmen aboard commercial ships for practical experience.

Merrone, 53, had faced more than a single accuser. Prosecutors had lined up several other women who have accused him of sexual assaults spanning roughly 30 years to testify at trial, the AP reported.

The AP does not name individuals who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they agree to be identified. Merrone had a prior conviction in Florida for false imprisonment and battery after a waitress in the Florida Keys accused him of having sex with her against her will. An appeals court overturned that conviction, and prosecutors did not retry the case.