Press Release
☷Filipino Seaman Pleads Guilty to Federal Charge for Fatally Stabbing Fellow Crewmember on Los Angeles Bound Container Ship
Federal Bureau of Investigation ( By Press Release office)
May 03,2022
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Filipino Seaman Pleads Guilty to Federal Charge for Fatally Stabbing Fellow Crewmember on Los Angeles - Bound Container Ship LOS ANGELES – A Philippines national who fatally stabbed a fellow crewmember on a container ship en route from Shanghai to Los Angeles pleaded guilty today to a federal criminal charge . Michael Dequito Monegro , 43 , a resident of The Philippines , pleaded guilty to one count of committing an act of violence against a person onboard a ship that is likely to endanger the safe navigation of the ship . United States District Judge Dale S . Fischer has scheduled a September 12 sentencing hearing , at which time Monegro will face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison . According to his plea agreement , in September 2020 , Monegro was working as a seaman aboard the MSC Ravenna , a 153 , 000 - gross - ton Liberian - flagged container ship . On September 20 , 2020 , the Ravenna was approximately 80 nautical miles from Southern California , nearing the end of its two - week voyage from Shanghai to the Port of Los Angeles . That morning , several crewmembers were in a dressing room on the ship’s upper deck , preparing for their shift and waiting for their direct supervisor to provide their work assignments for the day . Shortly after Monegro saw his direct supervisor in the hallway outside the locker room , Monegro began stabbing him with a knife while they were both in the hallway in full view of several crewmembers . The victim grappled with Monegro and the two fell to the floor . Monegro then got on top of the victim and continued stabbing him . Monegro then removed a second knife from the victim’s coveralls and stabbed him with both knives . Crewmembers attempted to intervene to stop Monegro , including throwing a trash can at him , but their actions were unsuccessful . Monegro admitted that he only stopped stabbing the victim when he became too tired to continue . The ship’s captain , chief mate and chief engineer all arrived on scene during the incident , and the captain convinced Monegro to get off the victim , who died on the ship from multiple stab wounds . Monegro was convinced by the captain to walk to a conference room . After continued discussions , Monegro placed the knives on the conference room table and was escorted to his cabin . After the incident , Monegro was confined to a cabin and crewmembers were assigned to guard the door , so they were unable to perform their normal duties on the ship . Other crewmembers were traumatized by witnessing Monegro stab and kill the victim . Federal agents arrested Monegro after the ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles on September 27 , 2020 . He has been in federal custody since his arrest . The FBI and the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service investigated this matter . Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey M . Chemerinsky of the Violent and Organized Crime Section; Assistant United States Attorney Mark A . Williams , Chief of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section; and Assistant United States Attorney Matthew W . O’Brien , also of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section , are prosecuting this case .
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