By David Harry

Staff Writer

An official at the Cumberland County Jail said the South Portland resident held on immigration violations appears to be in good spirits.

Maj. Francine Breton of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office spoke about Pakistan native Mohammed Shafiq Rahman, 34, in advance of anticipated visit by Barry Hoffman the Consulate General for Pakistan stationed in Boston. 

Rahman was detained last Thursday by FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents investigating Faisel Shahzad. Shahzad is accused of trying to detonate a car bomb in Times Square in New York on May 1.

Roger Talanian, a consulate official, confirmed Wednesday that Hoffman expects to see Rahman this afternoon. Talanian said the visit is for a standard interview to ensure Rahman is aware of his situation and feels his treatment is good. 

Breton said Rahman is being held separately from the general jail population and allowed an hour a day for recreation and phone calls. He is not allowed visitors at this time.

“Frankly, we have not heard a peep from him,” Breton said.

According to neighbors and his employer, Rahman is a computer programmer who has led a quiet life in a South Portland apartment on Kelley Street with his wife Sara, an artist.

Sara Rahman said she had no comment about her husband or his detainment, but downstairs neighbor Heather Ripley said the couple are nice people she often greeted as they walked their dog. 

Ripley, 27, said she has shared an apartment with two friends below the Rahmans for about two months and visited their apartment on occasion.

“He seems like a good guy. I never got a weird vibe from him,” Ripley said.

The couple’s interests were evident to Ripley, who said she knew Rahman enjoyed working with computers while his wife has an easel and art tools on the deck outside their apartment.

News of his arrest came as a shock to Ripley, she said.

“It was kind of like ‘whoa,’” she said.

Before his detainment, Rahman worked as a computer programmer for the 15-store Artist and Craftsman Supply headquartered on Deering Avenue in Portland. 

Company owner Larry Adlerstein said he had tired of media attention Rahmad’s arrest has generated, but was not weary of complimenting the man he had entrusted to create a program to track all incoming inventory for stores throughout the country.

“He is a nice guy, very gentle and treated everyone with respect,” Adlerstein said.

Because Rahman’s work required store computers be shut off, Adlerstein said he often worked late through the night.

“He kept the sleeping habits of an owl,” Adlerstein said.

It was only after federal agents visited the store last Thursday morning with news of Rahman’s arrest that Adlerstein discovered papers allowing Rahman to legally work in the U.S. had not been completed. Adlerstein said a company employee tried to get Rahman to fill out the forms properly since he began work at the store last August.

Adlerstein said Rahman told him he knew Shahzad about a decade ago when they both lived in Connecticut. 

Shahzad has been charged in federal court in New York with attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, attempted murder, transporting weapons and attempted destruction of property.

The day Rahman was arrested, two Pakistani men, Aftab Ali Khan, 27, and Pir Khan, 43, were taken into custody in Watertown, Mass. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters last week investigators believe evidence shows the three men provided money to Shahzad, although they may not have been aware how the money would be used.

Spokesman Gail Marcinkiewicz from the FBI office in Boston declined to comment on developments in the investigation or the link Rahman may have to Shazad.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said she attended classified briefings on the investigation by FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials last Thursday.

“Both the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have indicated that these arrests do not relate to any known immediate threat to the public or active plot against the United States,” Collins said in statement.

In testimony to the federal House Judiciary Committee last week, Holder said the Pakistani Taliban was behind the attempt to detonate the car bomb in Times Square.

Breton said it is not uncommon for federal detainees to be held at the jail, and she has heard no indication of how long Rahman may be held there.

From what he has heard from Sara Rahman, Adlerstein said he thinks Rahman is being treated well and fairly in custody.

“The quality of the personnel handling the case is good,” Adlerstein said.

If the situation can be resolved without prosecution, Adlerstein said wants Rahman to return to complete his company’s programming work expected to take another six months.

“He is innocent until proven guilty. As long as he is not a terrorist and takes care of the visa problem, I’d welcome him back,” Adlerstein said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219