Source: Feds still probing ‘murders and drug deals’ linked to 2002 murder of hip-hop legend Jam Master

The federal probe into the 2002 shooting of rap legend Jam Master Jay didn’t end with the August arrests of his alleged killer and a gun-toting sidekick.

Authorities are still investigating “other murders and drug deals” tied to the cold-blooded slaying of hip-hop star Jason Mizell, killed by a single point-blank gunshot to the head in a dispute over a cocaine deal, according to a federal source.

In addition, an FBI document obtained by the Daily News indicated Mizell was already under investigation by the feds at least seven months before his shocking death inside a Queens recording studio run by the world-renowned DJ.

A Freedom of Information Act request revealed a heavily-redacted March 2002 FBI document recounting a subpoena seeking phone records for Mizell and several unidentified other targets.

A spokesman for Brooklyn federal prosecutors declined to comment on the ongoing case, but court papers indicated accused killers Ronald “Tinard” Washington, 56, and Karl “Little D” Jordan Jr., 36, “worked together with others” in the drug conspiracy at the heart of the killing.

Authorities said Mizell received more than five kilos of cocaine “on consignment” from a supplier in Maryland in July 2002 before his slaying 18 years ago this past Friday. The beloved DJ, fearful for his life, was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a gun in the days before his murder.

“Jay knew that people were coming to get him,” said former NYPD homicide detective Derrick Parker, now a private investigator dubbed “The Hip-Hop Cop” for his work in the rap world. "He didn’t expect them to do it inside his studio, but he knew his life was threatened.

“Listen, the truth’s going to come out. You’re going to hear a lot more info about this, especially this drug conspiracy thing.”

Neighborhood guys Jordan and Washington were arrested in August, barely two months before the 18th anniversary of the Run-DMC turntable wizard’s Oct. 30, 2002, slaying. Authorities said Jordan pulled the trigger as a gun-toting Washington kept four eyewitnesses at bay.

Both Jordan and Washington, who was doing time for a series of Queens robberies when arrested in the Mizell shooting, face murder charges and a possible death sentence for the cold-blooded killing. Washington was so close with the hip-hop icon that he was sleeping on a couch in Mizell’s home in the days before the crime.

It remains unclear if any of the witnesses inside the studio cooperated with investigators, although Parker says at least two were willing to help in the early part of the probe. Witness Uriel “Tony” Rincon hung up on a reporter calling about the case, while Jay’s business partner Randy Allen did not recall calls.

Allen’s sister Lydia, who was working the desk in Jay’s studio when the killing occurred, ignored a call left at her Las Vegas business. But Allen’s brother Teddy, in a Facebook post after the arrests, ripped into those who had long suggested his siblings were involved in the plot.

“Now what you ... going to do, now that you know the truth?” he asked. “Nothing! Run run run ... run away, b-----s. It’s about time they got somebody that killed Jam Master Jay.”

Jay’s friends and family members still remain shocked by allegations about Mizell’s drug-dealing. The upbeat Jay, with his Kangol hat and unlaced Adidas, was a beloved figure in the very neighborhood where the multi-platinum selling artist was gunned down, and the reports of Mizell in the drug game were tough to hear.

“This is my opinion, based on my life and experiences, but Jay had a natural affinity for people that drug dealers do not have,” said renowned hip-hop photographer Ernie Paniciolli. “There’s a mercenary quality that Jay did not have. Jay was a hard-working cat, with a smile for everybody.”

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