Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Today, convicted murderer Carlisle Rivera, also known as “Pop,” was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his participation in a murder-for-hire plot directed by the Government of Iran targeting Masih Alinejad, a journalist, author, and human rights activist. Rivera previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of conspiracy to commit stalking before U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman for the Southern District of New York, who imposed today’s sentence.
“Today’s sentence underscores the consequences of conspiring with a regime that relies on violence and intimidation to survive,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “The National Security Division will continue to work tirelessly with its partners to detect and protect against such plots and to hold accountable those who try to achieve the vile ends of the Iranian regime.”
“The Iranian government repeatedly targeted a journalist and human rights activist living in New York, but thanks to the good work of the FBI and our partners those efforts failed,” said Assistant Director Donald Holstead of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. “Today’s sentencing sends a strong message that anyone who conspires with foreign powers to harm people living in the United States will be held accountable.”
“The Government of Iran, a sponsor of terrorism, assassination, and espionage around the globe, has engaged in a campaign of assassination plots in the United States and abroad targeting those who oppose the regime,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York. “The Government of Iran hired Rivera through an associate living in Iran to locate and murder Masih Alinejad in cold blood, right here in New York City. The Government of Iran has long sought to murder Ms. Alinejad, a U.S. citizen residing in New York City, because of her efforts to stand up to the Iranian regime and expose its discriminatory treatment of women, corruption, and human rights abuses. Today’s sentence should be a warning to anyone who would cast their lot with the brutal Iranian regime and seek to do their murderous bidding, especially on American soil: You will be stopped, you will be arrested, and you will be brought to justice.”
“The Iranian government enlisted a convicted killer to stalk and murder an American journalist and activist, Masih Alinejad, in an effort to forever silence her vocal criticism of its regime,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. “Carlisle Rivera served as a hired gun to facilitate the political assassination attempt ordered by an international adversary. May today’s lengthy sentence reflect the FBI’s unwavering stance against any domestic or foreign actor seeking to target our nation’s residents for nefarious agendas.”
As reflected in the charging instruments, other public filings, and statements in public court proceedings, in 2024, Rivera was hired by his criminal confederate, Farhad Shakeri, to murder Masih Alinejad on instructions from high-ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC is a military and intelligence organization that directly reports to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and is the Government of Iran’s primary instrument for providing financial and lethal aid to proxy terror groups in the Middle East. Among its activities, the IRGC plots and conducts attack operations outside Iran targeting, among others, U.S. citizens residing abroad and in the United States.
Alinejad is one of the IRGC’s principal targets. The IRGC and the Government of Iran’s intelligence services have long sought to kidnap or murder Alinejad because of her efforts to promote gender equality and civil liberties in Iran and to expose the regime’s corruption, oppression, and terrorism to the international community. In 2020 and 2021, Iranian intelligence officials and assets plotted to kidnap Alinejad in the U.S. for rendition to Iran; then, in 2022, the IRGC hired powerful, violent members of the Russian Mob to murder Alinejad. After those efforts failed, the IRGC turned to Shakeri, who hired Rivera to kill Alinejad.
Rivera and Shakeri were incarcerated together in the New York State prison system after Rivera’s 1994 conviction for murder and Shakeri’s 1991 conviction for manslaughter. In 2024, Shakeri was living in Iran and was an IRGC asset. Shakeri offered Rivera $100,000 to locate and kill Alinejad, and Rivera agreed. Rivera then recruited his friend, co-defendant Jonathon Loadholt, to assist him in the murder plot. Using money sent by Shakeri, Rivera and Loadholt purchased a firearm and “burner” cellphones. The two men then spent several months attempting to find and kill Alinejad, including by following her to a public speaking event and repeatedly stalking the Brooklyn house where Shakeri and the IRGC believed Alinejad lived.
During their efforts to locate and kill Alinejad, Rivera and his co-conspirators shared messages about their progress and photographs relating to their murder plot. For example, in or about February 2024, Rivera and Loadholt messaged about an incoming payment from Shakeri, and then traveled to Fairfield University, where Alinejad was scheduled to appear, and took photographs on campus. In April 2024, Rivera and his co-defendants exchanged a series of voice notes discussing their efforts to locate and kill Alinejad. In one voice note, Rivera told Shakeri that Alinejad was “hard to catch, bro. And because she hard to catch, there ain’t gonna be no simple pull up, unless there[’s] the luck of the draw.” In a subsequent voice note, Rivera referred to the “slammer,” meaning a firearm he had obtained to kill Alinejad.
On Nov. 7, 2024, before he could complete his plan to kill Ms. Alinejad, Rivera was arrested. At Rivera’s residence, law enforcement agents recovered, among other things, a firearm with a partially obliterated serial number.
In addition to the prison term, Rivera, 50, was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
In January 2026, Loadholt pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit stalking and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Loadholt is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Liman in April 2026. Shakari remains at large.
Investigative work in this case was conducted by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents and analysts from the FBI’s New York and Washington Field Offices and detectives from the New York City Police Department. The Department of Justice’s National Security Division (NSD), U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s New York Field Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Division, and the New York State Police provided assistance.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob H. Gutwillig and Michael D. Lockard for the Southern District of New York, with assistance from Leslie Esbrook of NSD’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Paul Casey of NSD’s Counterterrorism Section.