Current Affairs
Ship Captain Pleads Guilty to Sexual Assault of U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet
Former U.S. merchant ship captain John Merrone pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to all five counts of sexual abuse charges stemming from the drugging and assault of a 21-year-old U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadet aboard the cargo ship Liberty Glory in September 2019. Merrone faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. The case marks the first federal criminal prosecution for sexual assault aboard a U.S.-flag commercial vessel in more than four decades.
