{"id":187543,"date":"2026-04-06T20:15:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/187543\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T20:15:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:15:31","slug":"queens-man-cleared-in-jam-master-jay-murder-gets-bond-package-but-isnt-free-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/187543\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens man cleared in Jam Master Jay murder gets bond package \u2014 but isn\u2019t free yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"michael\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Attorney Michael Hueston exits Brooklyn federal court on April 6, 2026, with supporters of his client Karl Jordan Jr.<\/p>\n

Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

Three months after a judge reversed his conviction in the 2002 killing of Run DMC\u2019s Jam Master Jay, Karl Jordan Jr. is a step closer to freedom, after the same judge on Monday approved his proposed bail package while he awaits trial on other charges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jurors convicted Jordan, 42, in February 2024<\/a> after a monthlong trial alongside his co-defendant Ronald Washington. Both Queens men were charged with murder while engaged in a narcotics trafficking conspiracy and gun-related murder for the Oct. 30, 2002, fatal shooting of Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell, inside his Hollis, Queens, recording studio. Prosecutors posited that the murder stemmed from a dispute over a cocaine deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But in December, U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall overturned the conviction against Jordan, whom prosecutors accused of firing the gun that killed Jay, writing in her 29-page ruling<\/a> that there wasn\u2019t enough evidence the killing was drug-related.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s appeal of Hall\u2019s ruling acquitting Jordan is still pending. Meanwhile, Jordan faces cocaine distribution and conspiracy charges, which were severed from the murder trial.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hall on Monday found that Jordan successfully rebutted the presumption that he should be detained while those other charges are pending. The government, however, signaled that it is likely to appeal her ruling granting bail to Jordan, whose package includes 17 suretors, many of them family members, putting up a total of $1 million. The judge granted a stay while the government decides if it will appeal, ordering them to make a decision by Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Referring to a previous comment by one of Jordan\u2019s attorneys that his supporters are \u201cputting up all that they have,\u201d Hall said, \u201cI think that that characterization is a fair one.\u201d The package includes three residences, two of which are the homes in which suretors live.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, sir, bond is about you giving me your word,\u201d Hall said, addressing Jordan directly.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have my word,\u201d replied Jordan, who appeared in court wearing a khaki jail uniform and frameless glasses.\u00a0
\n\"\"Family supporting Karl Jordan Jr., who was convicted and then cleared of murdering Run DMC\u2019s Jam Master Jay in 2002, leave court on April 6, 2026, after a hearing at which a federal judge approved Jordan\u2019s $1 million bail package.Photo by Dean Moses\n<\/p>\n

Hall then addressed Jordan\u2019s supporters, who filled several rows of the courtroom, and offered a warning: \u201cIf Mr. Jordan proves me wrong today, I will not hesitate in the least to ensure the government acts on the collateral in this bond package.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supporters of Jordan who identified themselves as family members declined to comment following Monday\u2019s hearing.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Defense attorneys Michael Hueston, John Diaz, Mark DeMarco and Emilee Sahli represented Jordan in court Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Attorney Michael Hueston exits Brooklyn federal court on April 6, 2026, with supporters of his client Karl Jordan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-187543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}