Earlier in the year I wrote about the theft of the Lipinski Stradivarius, currently on loan to Frank Almond of the Milwaukee Symphony.   The instrument was recovered and the responsible parties identified as Universal Knowledge Allah and Salah Salahadyn, previously reported as Salah Ibn Jones.  Allah was sentenced earlier in the year to 3 ½ years in prison, and Salahadyn, considered the mastermind and the person who used a stun gun against Almond in the execution of the crime, has now pled guilty and faces a maximum of 10 years.

This update is the result of this story I read a couple of days ago – I wanted to close the loop on the Lipinski heist.  Criminals are often able to get away with quite a bit.  But it is indeed somewhere between rare and unheard of to get away scot-free with someone else’s five million dollar Stradivarius.  I have to wonder if at least one of the thieves plays the violin.  I also have to wonder if they found the thrill of the heist worth it – I can’t imagine anyone would try to steal a Stradivarius for the money; it would be more than a little difficult to liquidate.

Thanks for reading.

Ryan