Iranian-born U.S. citizen Masih Alinejad on January 28 was once again in a federal courtroom in Manhattan, facing a person hired by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard hired to kill her.
Brooklyn resident Carlisle “Pop” Rivera, 51, who has already served time for murder, pleaded guilty to stalking and taking part in the murder-for-hire plot, in which the Revolutionary Guard sought to recruit him to assassinate Alinejad, a journalist, human rights and women’s rights activist with millions of social media followers.
Before U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman gave Rivera a 15-year sentence, Alinejad was called to address her would-be killer. Wearing her trademark flower in her hair, Alinejad described what life is like for her and husband Kambiz Foroohar to live life as targets of the Iranian government.
“I’m very grateful to the U.S. law enforcement and the judge for giving the maximum sentence,” Alinejad said after sentencing. “At the same time, I don’t think this is enough. That happened three times. I don’t have a normal life in the United States of America.”
Flanked by FBI agents, she called on the U.S. government to take action against the Iranian regime as the “masterminds” before showing video of the chaos unfolding now on Iran’s streets as the government continues its violent crackdown on protestors.
“I carry the guilt on my shoulders. I am being protected by law enforcement,” Alinejad said. “My job is to give voice to people.”
In a statement issued after the sentencing, Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said the Iranian government engaged in a “campaign of assassination plots in the United States and abroad” targeting those opposed to regime including this attempt to “murder Masih Alinejad in cold blood, right here in New York City.”
FBI Assistant Director Donald Holstead said the Iranian government repeatedly “targeted a journalist and human rights activist living in New York.”
“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,” he said.
A prison meeting, a murder plot
The Iranian government’s previous failed attempts to take Alinejad out have also led to convictions.
Iranian agents in 2020 and 2021 plotted to kidnap Alinejad and return her to Iran. In 2022, the Iranians hired Russian mobsters to assassinate her in another unsuccessful plot.
Rivera and Shakeri met while they were both locked up in a New York State prison. Rivera was serving an 18-year sentence for a 1994 murder conviction and Shakeri was serving a term for manslaughter. In 2024, Shakeri was living in Iran and a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.
Shakeri offered Rivera $100,000 to kill Alinejad, according to court papers. Rivera recruited Jonathan Loadholt, of Staten Island, 36 years old at the time of his arrest, to assist in the deed. They used money from Shakeri to buy a gun and burner cellphones.
Rivera and Loadholt spent months stalking Alinejad, prosecutors said. They followed her to Connecticut, where she was scheduled to appear at a public speaking event at Fairfield University. They stalked a Brooklyn house that the Revolutionary Guard believed was her residence.
Their efforts to catch Alinejad came up empty and, November 2024, police caught up with Rivera, according to court papers. Investigators found a firearm with a partially obliterated serial number. They also uncovered a bevy of texts, voice memos and photos between Shakeri and Rivera that were related to the assassination plot.
In one voice memo, according to filings, Rivera said the 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.”
Apologies and admissions
At his sentencing hearing, Rivera expressed remorse, apologizing to “the lady,” her husband and family. He pledged to do what he could to make things right.
Foroohar spoke about how this and previous assassination and kidnapping attempts by the Islamic Republic had affected their family, who has had to move more than 20 times.
And Alinejad said the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard also were responsible.
She said the plots endangered other Americans, including university students, and other Brooklyn residents as they sought to locate her at home in Brooklyn.
In sentencing filings, Rivera’s attorney, Christopher Gunther of the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom argued that Rivera’s sentence should be no more than 10 years, citing a rough upbringing that included physical and emotional abuse as a child.
As he delivered his sentence, Liman noted Rivera has been in prison before, and that he was in his late 40s when he decided to sign up for a murder-for-hire plot. The judge said he considered the case’s implications for national security, noting that an agent for a foreign government agreed to bankroll the scheme.
“You engaged in a conspiracy to take the life of a victim you did not know. You did it for the money,” Liman said, according to the Associated Press.
In addition to the prison term, Rivera was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
