Salah Salahadyn, 41, left, and Universal Knowledge Allah, 36, have both been found guilty in the high-profile robbery of a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin. Salahadyn pleaded guilty Friday to felony robbery. Credit: Journal Sentinel files

SHARE

By

The second of two men charged with stealing a $5 million Stradivarius violin in January pleaded guilty on Friday to felony robbery.

After Salah Salahadyn, 42, of Milwaukee entered his plea, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Dennis P. Moroney revoked Salahadyn's bail and he was taken into custody, according to online court records.

He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 10.

Salahadyn was fascinated with stealing high-end art and described snatching a Stradivarius from a musician as his "dream theft," according to police.

Salahadyn's co-defendant, Universal K. Allah, 37, who provided him with the stun gun used in the crime, earlier pleaded guilty to being a party to the crime of robbery and was sentenced to 31/2 years in prison.

According to the criminal complaint, the two stole the 300-year-old Lipinski Stradivarius from Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond Jan. 27. The two attacked him with the stun gun and grabbed the instrument as he left a performance at Wisconsin Lutheran College.

The FBI, Interpol and detectives from the Milwaukee Police Department's Metropolitan Division — most of whom normally investigate homicides — cracked the case within a week with help from a customer at Allah's barbershop on N. King Drive.

The customer heard Allah and others talking on Feb. 1 about the violin robbery. The tipster said that after his haircut, Allah asked him for a ride home. During the ride, Allah mentioned that Salahadyn had "used the electric, not the heat," referring to using the Taser during the robbery.

Investigators already had traced the sale of the Taser to Allah through tiny, unique bits of confetti emitted by the weapon.

Milwaukee police arrested the suspects on Feb. 3, and two days later investigators found the violin nestled in a suitcase in the attic of a Bay View home.

Nearly 20 years ago, Salahadyn was linked to the theft of a $25,000 sculpture from a gallery in the Pfister Hotel. He was convicted of receiving stolen property after he tried to sell the sculpture back to the gallery four years after it was stolen.

Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.