Overview
- Bryant, 52, pleaded guilty Monday in Brooklyn federal court and told the judge he opened a locked fire-escape door knowing a gun would be used to shoot Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell in 2002.
- He faces 15 to 20 years under a plea that folds the murder charge into earlier drug and gun convictions, with final approval and sentencing to be set by U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall.
- Bryant did not name accomplices, and prosecutors tied him to the studio through DNA found on a hat recovered at the scene and late-emerging witness testimony.
- Two other men were convicted by a jury in 2024, but a judge later vacated Karl Jordan Jr.’s murder conviction and prosecutors are appealing, while Ronald Washington continues to challenge his verdict.
- Investigators say the ambush stemmed from a dispute over a cocaine deal worth about $200,000, a theory his admission may reinforce even as questions remain about who fired the fatal shots.