An Afghan man accused of masterminding a foiled murder-for-hire plot against Donald Trump was deported from the US after serving time in jail.
Farhad Shakeri, 51, served 14 years in prison for robbery before his release in 2008.
The accused terrorist was then deported and became an asset for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Department of Justice said.
Shakeri has been charged alongside New Yorkers Carlisle Rivera, also known as Pop, 49, of Brooklyn, Jonathon Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island and a fourth unnamed defendant in an elaborate assassination plot on behalf of Tehran.
They are accused of attempting to assassinate Trump, as well as Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad and two Jewish businessmen living in the US.
An Afghan man accused of masterminding a foiled murder-for-hire plot against Donald Trump was deported from the US after serving time in jail. Pictured: Weapons held in by the accused in connection to the thwarted plot
Rivera and Loadholt have been arrested, but Shakeri remains at large in Iran, according to the DOJ.
Shakeri came to the US as a child The indictment against him states he met his co-conspirators while in prison in the US.
He was convicted in 1994 and served time in several state prisons, including Woodbourne Correctional Center where he overlapped with the unnamed defendant, the indictment states.
In 2005, he was moved to a facility in Beacon where officials say he met Rivera.
Shakeri immigrated to the US as a child, although the FBI have not said what year he arrived or where he lived.
After being imprisoned remained in the country until his deportation in 2008.
Records on the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision shows that his parole supervision ended in 2015.
Just four years later he was arrested again in Sri Lanka in connection with the seizure of 92 kilograms of heroin, the indictment states.
The plot against Trump was orchestrated by Tehran in revenge for the killing of Qassem Soleimani.
Farhad Shakeri, 51, is accused of masterminding the plot against the president-elect on behalf of Tehran
Trump assassination attempt pictures released by the government
Pictures released by DOJ about the thwarted assassination attempt
Pictures released by the DOJ show the cache of weapons the suspected hitmen had at their disposal
Iran repeatedly assured the hitmen that they would spend as much money as possible to make sure the assassinations were carried out.
The IRGC tasked Shakeri with surveilling and killing Trump to avenge the devastating drone strike that killed Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in January 2020.
Trump has been a target ever since Soleimani’s slaying, and during the campaign asked for military planes and larger Secret Service detail to protect him from Iranian threats.
In September he said he’d threaten to blow Iran ‘to smithereens’ if he was back in the White House and there were threats from Tehran.
Shakeri was ordered to assassinate Trump with just a month until millions of Americans went to the polls on November 5.
However, he told the FBI in recorded phone calls he didn’t plan to carry out the operation in the timeframe he was given.
Shakeri was then told to delay the plot, because Iran thought Trump would lose the election and it would then be easier to get to him without his presidential Secret Service detail.
It is unclear when Shakeri went back to Iran and how he managed to flee the United States.
Activist and journalist Masih Alinejad was the secondary target in Iran’s plot to assassinate Donald Trump, court documents reveal
They traveled to Fairfield University in Connecticut, where Masih Alinejad was set to appear earlier this year, and also stalked her home in Brooklyn
The plot against Trump was orchestrated in revenge for the death of Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, Gen. Qassem Soleimani
The disturbing documents unsealed by the Department of Justice revealed the arsenal of weapons the assassins had at their disposal and the texts messages they sent each other to concoct their deadly plan.
The trio also shared frightening voice messages, urging patience and detailing how they would follow their targets.
Rivera and Loadholt were allegedly directed by Shakeri to surveil an unnamed U.S. citizen who is an ‘outspoken critic’ of the Iranian regime.
‘In exchange for Shakeri’s promise of $100,000, Rivera and Loadholt repeatedly sought to locate Victim-1 for murder,’ the complaint states.
The IRGC were in constant contact with the suspects, and said that ‘money was not an object’ when it came to pursuing their targets.
They traveled to Fairfield University in Connecticut, where Alinejad was set to appear earlier this year, and also stalked her home in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors also laid out how Iran is using overseas agents to actively target Americans on US soil for kidnapping and murder.
Their aim is to try and silence dissidents critical of the regime, as well as hit back at at Soleimani’s death.
