A convicted felon with a violent streak was sentenced to nine years in federal prison Monday for dealing drugs.
This won’t be Waheed Islam’s first stint behind bars.
Islam, 48, formerly of Ansonia and Manchester, has a long criminal history.
He was nicknamed “Max Paine,” according to a press release Monday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In 1999 Islam was sentenced to nine years in prison for opening fire on a Jeep on a street in Hartford.
He shot two women in the attack while missing his intended target, according to The Hartford Courant. The women escaped with minor injuries.
Islam was on probation at the time.
He made headlines again in 2011 when he was convicted of ordering a bullet-proof vest — something a violent convicted felon isn’t supposed to do.
The feds intercepted the body armor before it reached Islam’s door.
He later claimed he was planning to open a shop selling bullet-proof vests and similar items. To whom he was planning to sell the items is anybody’s guess.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for that crime.
This time Waheed is going to federal prison for importing and distributing the drug “Molly,” and for violating the conditions of his release connected to his body armor conviction.
According to the U.S. Attorney, a postal inspector contacted Ansonia police in July 2014 after noticing Islam has received several packages from China labeled “rock sugar.”
The post office told cops Islam was receiving the packages every four to eight weeks.
Ansonia police then twice searched his trash as it waited to be picked up. The “trash pulls” revealed all sorts of stuff, including crystalline rocks, rubber gloves, and plastic gloves, along with handwritten notes describing narcotics such as MDMA, LSD and Oxycontin. The documents included information on quantities and “pricing for distribution,” according to court docs.
Authorities intercepted one of Islam’s “rock salt” packages about a month later when it arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
The package contained a pound of ethylone, a substance used to make a variant of “Molly,” an illegal drug also known as MDMA.
A second package from China arrived at the Ansonia post office on Main Street — and cops found it contained another pound of ethylone.
A third package intercepted by the feds uncovered another 2.3 pounds of the stuff.
The packages all arrived in the U.S. in August 2014.
Islam pleaded guilty in March 2016 to conspiracy to import a controlled substance into the U.S.
In a sentencing memo, his court-appointed lawyer argued that Islam started dealing drugs out of “desperation.” He had no support system after being released from a previous prison stint, and lacked stability in his living situation.
Federal prosecutors argued that Islam should have been sentenced to 10 years in prison. They cited the large quantities of drugs he was receiving from China, plus his criminal history, which stretched back to his teen years, when he would rob people while armed with knives or guns.
He was later arrested for smashing a beer bottle over a young woman’s head.
“The pattern is obvious,” according to a sentencing memo from the prosecution. “The defendant commits a crime and regardless of his sentence, re-offends. Pretrial release, probation, parole have no deterrent effect. The threat of further prison has no deterrent effect.”
“His regular and repeated contacts with law enforcement and the criminal justice system reveal quite clearly that a substantial sentence is necessary to deter him from future criminal conduct.”
The Islam case was investigated by the Ansonia Police Department, Homeland Security, U.S. Postal Inspectors and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Leaming.
