Former Lexington imam guilty in kidnapping case faces new sexual assault charge

A former Lexington imam who previously pleaded guilty to a kidnapping scheme is now charged with sexually assaulting a tenant.

Mahmoud Shaker Shalash, 76, is charged with third-degree sexual assault, a misdemeanor, after police say he groped a woman living in a motel he owns.

The woman said Shalash tried to kiss her forcibly and pulled down her shirt last month at the Days Motel Lodge on Versailles Road.

Shalash, the former imam of the Islamic Center of Lexington, was in the news in 2020, too, when he was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of supervision in a kidnapping plot.

Shalash’s codefendant in that case, John Saiqullah, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire after prosecutors said he and Shalash schemed to kidnap a man to whom they’d loaned money and tried to hire someone to kill him.

Shalash pleaded guilty in January 2020 to kidnapping and two counts of money laundering. His murder-for-hire charge was dropped as part of the plea.

In the latest case, Shalash is accused of assaulting the woman July 12 at the motel where she lived with her father. The woman told police Shalash came to her room after her father left to ask about rent money, then he let himself inside, closed the door behind him, and sexually assaulted her.

Police interviewed her father, who confirmed her statements.

Video surveillance at the motel showed Shalash speaking through a crack in the door before entering the room and exiting a short time later.

Another employee of the motel told police she had received several complaints about Shalash from other women, and she had told him not to go into women’s rooms.

The woman still lived at the motel as of this week.

When police spoke with Shalash, he brought up the incident without provocation and denied the allegations.

At a detention hearing Tuesday, United States District Judge Matthew Stinnett ruled Shalash could be released from jail to home incarceration.

As part of the conditions of his release, Shalash will not be allowed near the Days Motel or to collect rent from tenants. He is allowed to leave his home only for doctor’s appointments, religious services and court appearances.

A final hearing date has not been set. If Shalash is found guilty of the assault, a judge could revoke his probation to serve out the remainder of his full federal sentence in the kidnapping case.

Shalash has not been associated with the Islamic Center since May 2019, the center previously said.

Taylor Six

Lexington Herald-Leader

Taylor Six is the criminal justice reporter at the Herald-Leader. She was born and raised in Lexington attending Lafayette High School. She graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2018 with a degree in journalism. She previously worked as the government reporter for the Richmond Register.