Jonathan Loadholt, 37, of Staten Island, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Wednesday for his role in an Iranian-backed plot to assassinate Iranian-American journalist and activist Masih Alinejad.
Loadholt pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit stalking and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is the second defendant sentenced in the case after Carlisle Rivera, who received a 15-year prison term in January.
Federal prosecutors said Loadholt and Rivera were recruited by Farhad Shakeri, an alleged operative tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to surveil and kill Alinejad, one of the IRGC’s “principal targets” for outspoken opposition to the Iranian regime.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Loadholt conducted surveillance of Alinejad and used money provided by Shakeri to buy a firearm and burner phones. Authorities arrested him on Nov. 7, 2024, and recovered more than two dozen rounds of ammunition from his residence.
“With today’s sentencing, Jonathan Loadholt will pay the price for participating in a plot orchestrated by Iran to kill a journalist and human rights activist who criticized the Iranian government’s policies,” Donald Holstead, FBI assistant director, stated.
Prosecutors said Alinejad has been repeatedly targeted by Tehran, including in two alleged kidnapping plots tied to the IRGC. Shakeri, who remains at large and is believed to be in Iran, has also been accused by U.S. authorities of involvement in other Iran-directed assassination plots.
