New York — A man was convicted And then erase it Rap star Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC could be released within days after a judge awarded him $$$ 1 million bonds on monday.
Carl Jordan Jr. has not been automatically let go because he still faces drug charges unrelated to the pioneering DJ’s 2002 death. For now, Jordan remains behind bars while prosecutors decide this week whether to appeal the bond decision. If they don’t, he will be released once his bail papers are completed.
“There is a real chance, Mr. Jordan, that you will be released in the very near term,” U.S. District Judge Lashane D’Arcy Hall said. “If that happens, I wish you luck. You will stay out of trouble,” she added.
Jordan agreed quietly as more than a dozen of his relatives and supporters watched from the audience. Some attended nearly six years of court hearings in his case and 17 of them agreed to sign his bail. Jordan’s loved ones also agreed to offer southern real estate with a total value of $525,000. If he is released, he will be under electronic monitoring.
His lawyers declined to comment after court.
Jam Master Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was fatally shot in his New York City recording studio in 2002. As Run-DMC’s DJ, he helped rap break into the mainstream with 1980s hits including “It’s Tricky” and a remake of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” He later mentored expatriates including young men 50 cents.
after The case went cold For years, Jordan and Ronald Washington were arrested in 2020. Washington, now 61; Jordan, 42, denied these accusations.
Jury convicted Men in 2024 after hearing from eyewitnesses Testimony that Jordan fired the gun Maisel while Washington blocked the door. But in December 2025, D’Arcy Hall unsealed Jordan’s conviction and acquitted him, while upholding the verdict against Washington.
Its reasons centered on whether prosecutors had proven that the murder was drug-related, a condition of the federal murder charge in the case. Witnesses testified that after the height of Run-DMC’s success, Mizell engaged in cocaine deals to pay his bills and was providing drug dealing opportunities to Jordan and Washington — the DJ’s godson and longtime friend, respectively.
The judge concluded that the jury heard sufficient evidence that Washington was bitter toward Mizell about the collapse of a planned drug deal in Baltimore. But there was no such evidence, “mere conjecture,” that Jordan had the same animosity, wrote D’Arcy Hall.
Prosecutors are appealing her decision to acquit Jordan of Mizell’s murder.
Jordan’s attorneys argued that he should receive bail while this appeal and the drug and weapons charges are pending.
Jordan, whose girlfriend is a city jail official, “does not pose a danger to the community. But his continued detention does pose a risk to Mr. Jordan,” attorney John Diaz said at a March 13 hearing. It was Jordan Stabbed and seriously injured in Brooklyn’s troubled federal prison last year; Other prisoners were accused of assaulting him.
Prosecutors denounced the stabbing incident, but urged the judge to continue detaining Jordan, stressing that he still faces the risk of flight.
DeArcy Hall concluded Monday that Jordan’s bond package outweighs concerns that he might flee. But she said to him: “In the end, sir, the bond is that you give me your word.”
He replied: “Yes, I am aware of that.”
Turning toward the public, she sought to make sure his family also received the message that Jordan needed to comply with the terms of the bond.
“You all know I’m not playing,” the judge warned. “We all understand, guys?”
A collective phrase, “Yes, Your Honor,” rose from the audience.
Meanwhile, prosecutors are in talks with a third man accused of killing Mizell, prosecutors and his attorneys told the judge in a March 12 letter. The third man was, Jay Bryant Indicted in 2023 After his DNA was found on a hat at the scene of the shooting. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors alleged that Bryant sneaked into the studio building and opened a back door for Jordan and Washington, after meeting them through a mutual acquaintance. Jordan’s lawyers said the case against Bryant raised doubts about the now dismissed charges against Jordan.