WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice announced murder-for-hire charges on Friday against an Iranian intelligence asset and two New York operatives allegedly hired to assassinate a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who has publicly criticized the Iranian government.
According to a statement released on Friday by U.S office for public affairs, the Iranian operative, Farhad Shakeri, 51, reportedly led the scheme under orders from the Iranian government.
Shakeri allegedly was also instructed to target President-elect Donald J. Trump.
“There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “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 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.”
Charged alongside Shakeri are Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, both of New York City. According to the complaint, Rivera and Loadholt worked with Shakeri to surveil and attempt to locate the intended target, a vocal critic of the Iranian regime, in exchange for payment. Rivera and Loadholt were apprehended in New York on Thursday and are now being held pending trial.
FBI Director Christopher Wray noted the ongoing threat posed by Iran. “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,” Wray said. “Thanks to the hard work of the FBI, their deadly schemes were disrupted.”
The DOJ alleges Shakeri has deep connections within Iran’s intelligence community and was tasked with providing a plan to assassinate President-elect Trump, as well as surveilling Jewish American citizens and targeting Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka. Shakeri reportedly used contacts from his past criminal activities to facilitate surveillance of the intended victim in the U.S.
“These charges send a clear message,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. “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.”
If convicted, Shakeri faces up to 20 years in prison for multiple charges, including providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, while Rivera and Loadholt face up to 10 years each for murder-for-hire and related charges.
