A would-be assassin received the harshest penalty of 15 years in federal prison for conspiring to murder an Iranian American journalist in New York, acting under the direction of Iran’s government.

Judge Lewis J. Liman of the U.S. District Court emphasized the severe impact of Carlisle Rivera’s actions on journalist and human rights advocate Masih Alinejad and her spouse. Liman described the communications Rivera engaged in during the 2024 plot in Brooklyn as “chilling.”

Addressing the court, Alinejad highlighted that the repeated assassination threats against her extended beyond personal danger, symbolizing broader assaults on American citizens and the nation’s sovereignty.

“I am merely a woman,” she declared. “My voice and social media are my only weapons.”

Masih Alinejad was seen outside the federal courthouse, surrounded by friends and supporters, after giving testimony at the separate trial of two individuals accused of another plot to assassinate her in New York on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

She urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence to deter future plots “targeting U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.”

Before sentencing, Rivera, 51, apologized, telling the judge, “I’m deeply sorry for my actions.”

Iranian civil rights activist Masih Alinejad attends the nightcap session titled “Rebels With a Cause: Voices of Civil Resistance” at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Feb. 17, 2024. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

In a brief courtroom moment, Rivera’s fiancée approached Alinejad during a recess, sobbing and apologizing. Alinejad later said she told the woman she was fighting not only for herself, but “for all Americans.”

Outside the Manhattan courthouse, Alinejad warned that the violence used to silence dissidents in Iran must not be allowed to spread to the United States. Holding a tablet showing images of Iranians killed during protests, she said Americans should not ignore the regime’s reach.

She also called on President Donald Trump to take stronger action against Iran’s leadership, comparing the regime to Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, who was captured in a U.S. military operation earlier this year and brought to New York on drug trafficking charges.

Masih Alinejad, a prominent Iranian American human rights activist, attends an interview with The Associated Press in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

“Removing terrorists is not tragedy. It’s a sign of justice,” Alinejad said, adding she does not support bombing Iran but wants its leaders removed.

She noted that U.S. authorities have said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was behind multiple plots to kill her, as well as a separate plot targeting Trump. Tehran has denied the allegations.

Alinejad fled Iran in 2009 after the country’s disputed presidential election and became a U.S. citizen in 2019. She rose to prominence through campaigns encouraging Iranian women to defy the regime’s mandatory headscarf law and has since become a global advocate for women’s rights.

Last year, two men were convicted and sentenced to 25 years for plotting to kidnap and kill her in 2022. Prosecutors said Iran placed a $500,000 bounty on her head.