MANHATTAN — A federal judge in Manhattan sentenced Jonathan Loadholt to 10 years in prison for conspiracies to commit stalking and launder money in a plot targeting journalist Masih Alinejad. Loadholt, 37, of Staten Island, pleaded guilty to the charges in connection with an Iran-directed scheme that sought to surveil Alinejad at her Brooklyn residence in 2024.

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman imposed the sentence following Loadholt’s guilty plea. According to federal prosecutors, Loadholt’s actions were part of a broader effort by the Iranian government to target Alinejad, a prominent critic of the regime. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said Loadholt was a U.S. citizen driven by greed to kill Alinejad. Clayton added that the government of Iran "tried to silence Ms. Alinejad because of her efforts to stand up to the Iranian regime and expose its discriminatory treatment of women, corruption, and human rights abuses."

James Barnacle, head of New York's FBI office, said that Loadholt was tasked by the government of Iran to surveil Alinejad and eventually assassinate her, but the FBI arrested him first. A prosecutor said Iran had put a $500,000 bounty on Alinejad's head. In court filings, Loadholt’s lawyers requested leniency, stating that "a reckless and senseless decision made at the behest of a friend cost him his job, his freedom, and years with his family he will never get back." They wrote that he was never asked to commit murder and was largely kept in the dark about the true purpose of the surveillance, though they acknowledged he "clearly understood the potential for serious violence." Loadholt expressed remorse in a letter to the judge, saying he was "very ashamed." He added, "It was wrong on every level."

Alinejad left Iran in 2009 after the country’s disputed presidential election and became a U.S. citizen in 2019. She is an author and contributor to Voice of America. She has led online campaigns encouraging Iranian women to post images without headscarves in defiance of mandatory hijab laws and has spoken globally about women’s freedom of expression. In 2022, two men were charged with plotting to kidnap her from her Brooklyn home and kill her. Alinejad testified at their trial last year.