A convicted killer and reputed gangbanger was released without bail following a gun bust in the Bronx — by a judge who critics claim owes her job to political connections, The Post has learned.

Shakeil Chandler, 32, served an eight-year prison term for manslaughter for a 2006 shooting in Queens before being paroled in 2014, records show.

On Oct. 4, the reputed Crips gang member was busted when cops responded to an electronic “ShotSpotter” report of gunfire and found a group of people — including a wounded victim — outside 1331 Beach Ave. in Soundview at about 1:50 a.m., law enforcement sources said.

The victim, a 32-year-old Connecticut man, wouldn’t cooperate with authorities, but Chandler allegedly was seen kicking a Taurus .357 Magnum revolver under a car, sources said.

Chandler was charged with three counts of weapon and firearm possession, with a criminal complaint alleging that the gun was “in his custody and control, on the ground near [his] foot.”

When he was hauled into court later that day, Bronx prosecutors sought to have him held on $75,000 bail, court records show.

But Bronx Criminal Court Judge Jeanine Johnson freed Chandler without bail — even though the complaint noted his 2009 guilty plea in the slaying of 16-year-old Mario Young in Far Rockaway, Queens.

Johnson cited a recommendation to free Chandler without bail by the New York City Criminal Justice Agency, a nonprofit city contractor, and noted that he “has full custody of his child,” according to court records.

Law enforcement sources were outraged.

“Obviously, he has not been reformed,” one source said.

“He is hanging out at 2 a.m. and there is a shooting. He is a threat to society.”

Another said: “By releasing him on the streets, the judge is threatening the community and protecting a killer.”

Johnson formerly served as general counsel to then-Manhattan Assemblyman Keith Wright, who’s been leader of the Manhattan Democratic Party since 2009.

In 2018, critics accused Wright of clearing the way for Johnson to successfully run for her judicial seat, with longtime Manhattan Democrat Alan Flacks telling The Post: “There was a selection panel of one person, Keith Wright. And no one was allowed to run against her.”

Wright also intervened on Johnson’s behalf following her June 25, 2014, arrest after cops saw her leave the Corner Social bar in Harlem and drive off erratically around 4 a.m.

Johnson allegedly refused orders to get out of the car, invoked Wright’s name and threatened to call NYPD brass before blowing 0.113 on a Breathalyzer — well over the 0.08 threshold for driving while intoxicated.

Wright sent the judge in that case a letter describing Johnson as an “indispensable member” of his staff, The Post revealed at the time, and she later struck a plea deal to a reduced charge of driving while ability impaired.

Johnson didn’t return messages seeking comment Wednesday, and her mom said she was traveling out of town.

Office of Court Administration spokesman Lucian Chalfen said, “It appears that she followed the recommendation of the pre-trial services agency which evaluated the defendant and obviously, in her estimation, she agreed with their assessment.”

A former roommate at Chandler’s last known address said he knew nothing about Chandler’s deadly past but thought “there was something crazy about him.”

“God works in mysterious ways,” said Darnell Herrera, 33.

Additional reporting by Joseph Konig