A man from New York City was handed a 10-year federal prison sentence on Wednesday due to his involvement in a murder-for-hire scheme linked to the Iranian government.
Jonathan Rodholt, who hails from Staten Island, had previously admitted guilt to one count of conspiracy to commit stalking and another for conspiracy to commit money laundering, both connected to a plot aimed at journalist and human rights advocate Maci Alinejad.
Alinejad, an Iranian national who escaped the country in 2009 and became a U.S. citizen in 2019, was targeted by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) for her vocal support of Iranian women defying the regime’s mandates regarding headscarves.
“Jonathan Rodholt acted as a hired operative tasked with stalking, surveilling, and ultimately assassinating Maci Alinejad, an American citizen, under the direction of the Revolutionary Guards,” stated James Barnacle Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI. “However, the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force apprehended him before he could execute his plans.”
“We will not tolerate any attempts to silence critics of oppressive regimes on American soil,” he added.
Rodholt, now 37, becomes the second person to face sentencing in what the Justice Department called a “stalking and murder” conspiracy against Alinejad.
Carlyle Rivera, another co-defendant, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to commit murder and received a 15-year prison sentence.
The duo was reportedly offered $100,000 by Farhad Shakeri, who was in direct contact with the Revolutionary Guard, tasked with acquiring weapons, surveilling a residence in Brooklyn believed to belong to Alinejad, and following her to a lecture in Connecticut in February 2024 with the intent to kill her. Their efforts, however, fell short.
During the lengthy surveillance operation, Rivera allegedly expressed frustration to Shakeri, reportedly saying, “This sound is hard to catch, brother.”
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton remarked, “The Iranian government has tried time and again to track down and eliminate Masih Alinejad right here in New York City. They aimed to silence her because she dares to challenge their regime and reveal its discrimination, corruption, and human rights violations.”
Clayton also emphasized that while directed by Iran, the would-be assassins were American citizens motivated by financial gain. “Today’s judgment serves as a serious warning for anyone thinking of profiting from executing the desires of a hostile foreign government on U.S. soil,” he added.
Shakeri is still at large, with suspicions that he received orders from the Revolutionary Guards concerning a plan to assassinate President Trump.
U.S. authorities claim that Iran is plotting to eliminate Trump as retribution for the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, who died in a drone strike authorized by Trump in 2020.
In January, Trump shared with NewsNation that he had instructed that if Iran succeeded in their assassination attempt, “the whole country would be blown up.”
