A California woman who admitted unwittingly funding a plot to kidnap an outspoken U.S.-based opponent of Iran's regime has been sentenced to four years in prison.
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“This crime left its mark. Every day when I go out in the street, I have to look over my shoulders. ... I miss my tree-lined street and my neighbors who treated me as one of their own,” Alinejad told Judge Ronnie Abrams as she asked her to set an example by sending 48-year-old Niloufar Bahadorifar, of Irvine, California, to prison for as long as possible.
Afterward, Bahadorifar addressed the court, telling Alinejad she was “humiliated to have been involved in any attempt to harm you, even if I was unaware of it.”Outside court, Alinejad was unimpressed. She is a prominent figure on Farsi-language satellite channels abroad that critically view Iran and has worked as a contractor for U.S.-funded Voice of America’s Farsi-language network since 2015. She became a U.S. citizen in October 2019.
Last summer, police arrested a man armed with a loaded assault-style rifle and dozens of rounds of ammunition near her Brooklyn home. Alinejad said a home security video had recorded the man outside her front door. An Iranian intelligence officer and others were charged in New York in 2021 with trying to kidnap Alinejad. The Iranian officials have denied the charge.
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