BOSTON, Mass. (WAVY) — A 31-year-old man has pleaded guilty to murder in connection with an incident aboard a Virginia-based scalloping boat off the coast of Massachusetts in September 2018.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to one count of murder in the second degree, one count of attempted murder, and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon.

He is scheduled for sentencing June 28.

According to the DOJ, Meave Vazquez was aboard the Captain Billy Haver on Sept. 23, 2018, about 55 miles off the coast of Nantucket, with six other crew members on Sept. 23, 2018. News reports and images of the boat indicate the boat is based in Seaford.

That afternoon, Meave Vazquez used a hammer to hit the first victim in the head inside the shucking house. That person lost consciousness.

Click here to subscribe to WAVY’s Daily Newsletter emails.

He then walked out onto the desk and stabbed a second person multiple times with a fillet knife.

A third person climbed up to the desk from the ice hold, but was hit in the head by Meave Vazquez with a hammer and fell down the ladder. His head was injured and bleeding.

Meave Vazquez then got into a struggle with the boat captain before he climbed to the top of the rigging mast, the DOJ said.

The first two who were attacked were taken to a nearby ship, the German cruise ship Mein Schiff 6, for medical attention. The person who has been stabbed died there.

The U.S. Coast Guard arrived that evening and took Meave Vazquez into custody. He had remained at the top of the mast until he was taken into custody.

Meave Vazquez was taken into federal custody once he arrived at the Boston port the following day. He was in the United States illegally at the time, and is a Mexican national.

Before the incident aboard the scalloping boat, Meave Vazquez has been arrested in March 2018 in Newport News on charges of abduction by force, intimidation, or deception.

When sentenced, Meave Vazquez faces:

  • Up to life in prison on the charge of second-degree murder
  • Up to 20 years on the charge of attempted murder
  • Up to 10 years in prison on the charge of assault with a dangerous weapon

All three convictions also each carry fines of up to $250,000 each. Sentences typically are shorter than the maximum penalties.

Meave Vazquez will also be subject to deportation once he completes his sentence.