A California woman was sentenced to four years in prison Friday for providing financial support in a foiled Iranian plot to kidnap Masih Alinejad, a prominent Iranian-American author and women’s rights activist living in New York City. 

Niloufar Bahadorifar was charged with sanctions violations conspiracy, bank and wire fraud conspiracy and money-laundering conspiracy in the case. In July 2021, federal prosecutors also charged four Iranian nationals with conspiracy to kidnap Alinejad and forcibly take her to Iran. 

“This case demonstrates that the government of Iran will continue to target dissidents and reach beyond their borders, violating US sanctions and national security, but more importantly threaten the personal safety of individuals living in our country,” Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division said in a statement. 

Bahadorifar, a 48-year-old US citizen originally from Iran, pleaded guilty in December to providing financial services to Iran in violation of US sanctions on the country. She is not charged with participating in the kidnapping conspiracy, and told the Federal District Court in Manhattan on Friday that she was unaware of it.