Federal prosecutors announced on Friday that three people have been charged with various offenses in connection to their alleged links to an Iranian group suspected of murder-for-hire plots to kill U.S. citizens, including Republican President-elect Donald Trump.

 

Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Merrick B. Garland, attorney general of the United States, Christopher A. Wray, FBI director, James E. Dennehy, assistant director in charge of the FBI New York field office, and David Sundberg, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office, announced on Friday, Nov. 8, the unsealing of murder-for-hire and related charges against Farhad Shakeri, Carlisle Rivera a/k/a “Pop,” and Jonathan Loadholt in connection with their involvement in a plot to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin in New York.

 

They said Rivera, 49, of Brooklyn, was arrested in Brooklyn on Nov. 7, while Shakeri, 51, of Iran, remains at large and is believed to currently live in Iran. They said Rivera and Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island, were presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Willis in the Southern District of New York on Nov. 7 and ordered detained pending trial.

 

In the context of the announcement, Williams said, “Actors directed by the government of Iran continue to target our citizens, including President-elect Trump, on U.S. soil and abroad. This has to stop. Today’s charges are another message to those who continue in their efforts; we will remain unrelenting in our pursuit of bad actors, no matter where they reside, and will stop at nothing to bring to justice those who harm our safety and security. I want to thank the career prosecutors of this office and our law enforcement partners for their ongoing work in this and related investigations. They are truly the best of the best and work tirelessly to keep our country safe.”

 

We’ve asked federal prosecutors for clarification of whether the referenced assassination plot to kill the president-elect is related or unrelated to two previously reported attempts by Thomas Matthew Crooks in Pennsylvania on July 13, and by Ryan Routh in Tampa, Florida on Sept. 15, and will share any feedback we receive.

 

For his part, Garland said, “There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran. The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald J. Trump. We have also charged and arrested two individuals who we allege were recruited as part of that network to silence and kill, on U.S. soil, an American journalist who has been a prominent critic of the regime. We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security.”

 

Meanwhile, Wray said, “The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens, including President-elect Donald J. Trump, other government leaders, and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran.  The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – a designated foreign terrorist organization – has been conspiring with criminals and hitmen to target and gun down Americans on U.S. soil and that simply won’t be tolerated.  Thanks to the hard work of the FBI, their deadly schemes were disrupted.  We’re committed to using the full resources of the FBI to protect our citizens from Iran or any other adversary who targets Americans.”

 

According to the allegations contained in the complaint charging the defendants and other public statements and filings, The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (the “Government of Iran”) is actively targeting nationals of the United States and its allies living in countries around the world for attacks, including assault, kidnapping, and murder, both to repress and silence dissidents critical of the Iranian regime and to take vengeance for the January 2020 death of then-commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”) Qods Force (“IRGC-QF”), Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.

 

Prosecutors said the IRGC is an Iranian military and counterintelligence agency under the authority of Iran’s Supreme Leader, comprised of components including an external operations force, the IRGC-QF, and has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Secretary of State since April 15, 2019. They said the IRGC has publicly stated its desire to avenge the death of Soleimani, and, among its activities, the IRGC plots and conducts attack operations outside Iran targeting U.S. citizens residing in the United States and abroad.

 

They said Shakeri is an IRGC asset living in Tehran, Iran. They said he immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction. They said in recent months, Shakeri allegedly used a network of criminal associates he met in prison in the United States to supply the IRGC with operatives to conduct surveillance and assassinations of IRGC targets.

 

Prosecutors said two members of Shakeri’s network are his co-defendants, Loadholt and Rivera. They said at Shakeri’s instruction, Loadholt and Rivera allegedly spent months surveilling a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin living in the United States (“Victim-1”). They said Victim-1 is an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime and has been the target of multiple prior plots for kidnapping and/or murder directed by the Government of Iran. They said that in exchange for Shakeri’s promise of $100,000, Rivera and Loadholt allegedly repeatedly sought to locate Victim-1 for murder.

 

Prosecutors said that during these efforts, Shakeri, Loadholt, and Rivera shared messages about their progress and photographs relating to their scheme. For example, in or about February 2024, Rivera and Loadholt allegedly messaged about an incoming payment from Shakeri, and then traveled to Fairfield University, where Victim-1 was scheduled to appear, and took photographs on campus.

 

In or about April 2024, Shakeri allegedly sent Rivera a series of voice notes discussing their efforts to locate and kill Victim-1. In one voice note, Shakeri allegedly told Rivera that Victim-1 spent most of her time in particular locations of her home, and allegedly told Rivera that “you just gotta have patience . . . You gotta wait and have patience to catch her either going in the house or coming out, or following her out somewhere and taking care of it. Don’t think about going in. [It] is a suicide move.”

 

Prosecutors said that on several occasions over the last several months, consistent with this instruction from Shakeri, Rivera and/or Loadholt allegedly surveilled a location in Brooklyn that they had identified as associated with Victim-1.

 

In addition, according to statements made by Shakeri in recorded interviews with law enforcement agents, the IRGC also allegedly tasked Shakeri with carrying out other assassinations against U.S. and Israeli citizens located in the United States. In particular, Shakeri informed law enforcement that he was tasked on Oct. 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump.

 

During the interview, Shakeri claimed he did not intend to propose a plan to kill Trump within the timeframe set by the IRGC. He also said he was tasked with surveilling two Jewish American citizens living in New York City, and was offered $500,000 by an IRGC official for the murder of either victim. He was also tasked with targeting Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka.

 

Prosecutors said all three defendants have been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; and money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

 

They said Shakeri has also been charged with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison;  providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

 

The maximum potential sentences in the case are prescribed by Congress and are provided for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be imposed by a judge.

 

Williams praised what he said was the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents and analysts from the FBI and detectives from the NYPD, and the FBI Washington field office. He also thanked the Department of Justice’s national security division, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s New York field office, the New York division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the New York State Police.

 

The case is being handled by the Southern District of New York’s national security and international narcotics unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob Gutwillig and Michael Lockard, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Isaacson are leading the prosecution, with assistance from National Security Division Trial Attorneys Dmitry Slavin of the counterterrorism section, and Christopher Rigali and Leslie Esbrook of the counterintelligence and export control section.

 

The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

Sundberg said of the those indicted, “The charges announced today further demonstrate the IRGC’s continued campaign to silence and kill Americans who criticize the Iranian regime.  Through collaboration with FBI New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and federal prosecutors at the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we have successfully disrupted the defendants’ alleged plots to fulfill Iran’s goals of permanently eliminating voices of opposition. We vow to continue to work with our partners to stop IRGC operatives and associates who seek to harm our citizens on our soil.”

 

Meanwhile, Dennehy said, “These individuals allegedly plotted to murder an American citizen – on our soil – at the direction of a foreign terrorist organization, the IRGC. This case is an example of yet another flagrant attempt by the Government of Iran, not merely to silence those who speak out against them, but to take the lives of American citizens exercising their constitutionally protected rights here in this country.  As we remain unwavering in our mission to protect the American people, the FBI will continue to aggressively pursue justice against anyone attempting to use violence to violate our freedoms and way of life.”