Brooklyn federal prosecutors announced 25 arrests in a series of crimes behind bars at the troubled MDC Brooklyn federal jail — including a half-dozen men charged in the bloody brawl that left Jam Master Jay’s killer, Karl Jordan, repeatedly stabbed.
Photos released by federal prosecutors show the chaotic Feb. 22 fight in MDC Brooklyn, which the Daily News previously reported ended with Jordan’s nonfatal stabbing. Jordan, who goes by “Little D,” was convicted last year of fatally shooting the Run-DMC legend in his Hollis, Queens, music studio in 2002.
Karl Jordan, Jr., left, and Jam Master Jay. (Obtained by Daily News; AP)
The feds have also charged Devone Thomas — who is accused of murdering fellow MDC inmate Uriel Whyte last year — of trying to sneak a blade into the Sunset Park jail by hiding it in his groin after he returned from a court appearance last month.
The arrests, announced Thursday by acting U.S. Attorney John Durham, cover a dozen incidents at the notorious lockup, which has long been plagued by violence, grim living conditions and medical mistreatment woes. The jail currently houses disgraced rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and accused healthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione.
Those arrested include 15 inmates charged with violent assaults and contraband smuggling, including former Correction Officer Najee Jackson, who was charged in January with trying to sneak in vacuum-sealed bags of cigarettes and pot.
The inmates arrested in the Feb. 22 brawl — Brian Castro, Franklin Gillespie, Juan Lopez, Jowenky Nunez, Jr., Hugo Rodriguez and Elvis Trejo — are all charged with assault in a federal detention facility. They chased down a fellow inmate, stabbing him 18 times, sparking a brawl that resulted in at least 10 inmates stabbed or slashed, the feds allege. Five, including their target, were hospitalized, prosecutors said.
Jordan is not named in the court documents, and it’s not clear if he was the targeted inmate or merely one of the others wounded. He recovered enough to return to MDC, sources familiar with his case said.
His lawyer declined comment, and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office wouldn’t comment on Jordan.
Several of the half-dozen alleged attackers have been involved in high-profile cases. Castro was found guilty in January of murdering Brooklyn bouncer Rodney Maxwell during a botched robbery at an illegal gambling den in Brownsville.
Gillespie was convicted last June of murder conspiracy and racketeering charges for his role in Brooklyn’s murderous “Bully Gang,” while three suspects, Nunez, Rodriguez and Trejo, are accused of being a part of the Trinitarios gang’s “Own Every Dollar” subset.
According to sources, the Feb. 22 brawl may have been a gang feud between members of the Trinitarios and the Bloods.
John Durham, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement, “As alleged, in several separate charging instruments, inmates viciously attacked fellow detainees, a correctional officer betrayed his duty by attempting to smuggle drugs into the facility, several inmates orchestrated elaborate contraband smuggling operations and yet another inmate continued to engage in fraud schemes while detained.”