FBI: Staten Island man participates in Iranian assassination plot; Trump is among the organizer's other targets

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island man was part of a murder-for-hire plot against an Iranian-American journalist who is an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime, federal authorities allege.

Jonathan Loadholt, 36, was arrested Thursday on Staten Island and is charged with participating in a plot to surveil and ultimately murder the political activist, referred to only as “Victim-1” in federal court documents.

The men were arrested before the murder could be carried out.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is actively targeting nationals of the United States and its allies in countries around the world to suppress and silence dissidents in Iran.

The alleged attacks are believed to have been intended as revenge for the January 2020 death of Qasem Soleimani, then commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, who was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad.

At the center of these conspiracies is 51-year-old Farhad Shakeri from Iran, who is accused of building a criminal network of associates he met during his time in a US prison to supply the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with agents capable of killing to equip designated targets.

The targets assigned to Shakeri included President-elect Donald Trump, two Jewish American citizens living in New York City and Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka, the Justice Department said.

However, Loadholt is not charged in connection with any of these attacks, with the exception of the attack against the journalist, who is also described in court documents as a “priority” target of the Iranian regime.

As federal prosecutors detailed, an indictment returned by a grand jury in Manhattan federal court was unsealed in July 2021, accusing an Iranian intelligence officer and three Iranian intelligence officials of conspiring to kidnap the outspoken critic on behalf of the Iranian government.

Loadholt and another associate of Shakeri's network, Carlisle Rivera, 49, of Brooklyn, were hired by Shakeri to locate this murder target, prosecutors said.

According to the Justice Department, Shakeri promised the couple $100,000 in exchange for the murder.

During their efforts, Shakeri and the two men allegedly exchanged messages and photos related to the assassination attempt. In or about February 2024, Loadholt and Rivera are accused of traveling to Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, where the critic was scheduled to appear.

Details of alleged surveillance visits

On several other occasions earlier this year, federal authorities alleged that Loadholt and/or Rivera conducted surveillance of an area associated with their target in Brooklyn.

In March, federal authorities said Shakeri would make payments to Rivera so that both he and Loadholt could continue to monitor their target. In court documents, Loadholt is repeatedly accused of traveling across the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge to stake out a Brooklyn residence associated with the journalist.

Federal prosecutors allege that during these visits, Loadholt crossed the bridge and then removed the license plate from his vehicle before arriving at the residence. Once the surveillance was complete, he left the scene, replaced the license plate and returned to the island.

According to court documents, on March 25, a pole camera captured Loadholt's vehicle arriving near the Brooklyn residence around 5:25 a.m. For the next few hours, the vehicle remained at the scene of the accident, changing parking spots and eventually ending up on the same side of the street as the residence before driving off at 10:06 a.m., prosecutors allege.

Then, on April 1, court documents allege that Shakeri and Rivera exchanged voice messages in which they discussed ongoing attempts to murder the target.

“This idiot is hard to catch, bro,” Rivera said in a message, federal prosecutors noted. “And because she's hard to catch, there won't be an easy pull up unless you get lucky with the draw. Unless there’s luck in the draw.”

In a voice note, Shakeri reportedly informed Rivera that the journalist spent most of his time in a third-floor study and a second-floor recording studio.

“You just have to be patient and not kicking down the door is not an option because that is a failure, that is a failure maneuver,” Shakeri reportedly said in a voice note. “You have to wait and be patient to catch her either going in or coming out of the house, or to follow her somewhere and take care of it. Don't even think about going in. Going in there is a suicide move.”

In subsequent voice messages detailed in court documents, Rivera appeared to agree with Shakeri and said that “kicking down the door isn't going to work.”

In addition to various messages, federal authorities discovered a cloud account and other electronic accounts linked to Loadholt. In these reports, authorities claim to have found images of Loadholt with firearms.

Firearms pictured in the media with manufacturing dates at least between December 2018 and June 2024 include a Taurus G2s 9mm firearm; a Smith & Wesson M&P pistol; a Smith & Wesson .380 pistol; a rifle with a telescopic sight; An assault rifle and a 9mm pistol with the serial number scratched off, court documents say.

Fees

“There are few actors in the world that pose as great a threat to the national security of the United States as Iran,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department has charged an Iranian regime operative who was hired by the regime to lead a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination attempts against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump. We also charged and arrested two individuals who we allege were recruited as part of this network to silence and kill an American journalist on U.S. soil who was a prominent critic of the regime. We will not tolerate the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security.”

Loadholt, Shakeri and Rivera were all 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.

Shakeri is also 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, punishable by a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Iranian government, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, the OPA said.

Loadholt and Rivera made their first appearance in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday and were remanded in custody pending trial.