Today Imam Zulqarnain Abdu-Shahid, the Correction Department chaplain and ex-con caught carrying sharp objects (razor blades and a pair of scissors) into a downtown prison, is set to testify in front of a grand jury. Last week the Imam was charged with four counts of first-degree promoting prison contraband. According to his layer, the blades caught by an X-ray machine as the chaplain entered the prison are "the kind found in barbershops."
Before he got religion, Abu-Shahid—then known as Paul Pitts—was one of a group of men who robbed a supermarket, killing a customer. He spent 14 years behind bars for that misdeed; the NY Post says that this time he could go to jail for as long as seven years.
