An Iranian national and two Americans have been charged with involvement in a murder-for-hire plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump, as well as an Iranian dissident, the US Department of Justice has announced.
Farhad Shakeri, Carlisle ‘Pop’ Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt were named in the criminal complaint unveiled on Friday by the Southern District of New York. Rivera was arrested in Brooklyn and Loadholt in Staten Island. Shakeri is “believed to reside” in Iran and remains at large.
“The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target US citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
Shakeri, 51, immigrated to the US as a child but was deported in 2008 after serving 14 years in prison on a robbery conviction. The DOJ alleges he is an asset of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who used “a network of criminal associates he met in prison” to spy on targets and plot their deaths.
Rivera, 49 and Loadholt, 36, were allegedly promised $100,000 by Shakeri to stalk and kill an unidentified Iranian dissident (Victim-1).
According to the DOJ, Shakeri had several “recorded interviews with law enforcement agents,” in which he said he was tasked by the IRGC on October 7 to provide a plan for killing Trump.
“During the interview, Shakeri claimed he did not intend to propose a plan to kill Trump within the timeframe set by the IRGC,” the DOJ noted. It was unclear why Shakeri has not been arrested.
The three men were all charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, for facing a total of up to 40 years in prison if convicted. Shakeri has also been charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to do so, and violating US sanctions on Iran, and faces another 60 years in prison if ever caught and convicted.
While the DOJ noted that the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court, Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland have held up the indictment as proof that Iran is “actively targeting nationals of the United States and its allies living in countries around the world for attacks” motivated by vengeance for the 2020 death of IRGC Quds Force commander, General Qassem Soleimani.
Trump ordered Soleimani’s assassination in a drone strike carried out near the Baghdad airport in Iraq.
The 45th and soon to be 47th president of the US survived an assassination attempt on July 13, during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Secret Service killed the shooter, identified as a 20-year-old American Thomas Crooks. Another would-be assassin, Ryan Routh, was arrested in September after he set an ambush at a Florida golf course belonging to Trump. No Iranian connection was made in either case. Routh had previously tried to recruit Afghan veterans to fight for Ukraine against Russia.