Jam Master Jay Murder Suspect Sentenced To 17 Years

A New York man federal officials believed had a role in the Jam Master Jay killing was sentenced to 17 years in prison yesterday on unrelated robbery charges, according to the New York Daily News. Brooklyn Federal Judge Nina Gershon sentenced Ronald "Tinard" Washington for a spree of robberies, however, she did not account the alleged JMJ murder, nor an additional murder he supposedly committed in 1995. According to court records, Washington, 40, confessed to both murders, telling his then girlfriend his role in the Run DMC DJ's slay. Judge Gershon didn't take the faulty confessions into consideration in her ruling. "One might think if it was such an overwhelming [murder] case, someone would have prosecuted him [directly on those charges], instead of hanging a murder on a string of robberies with a BB gun," she said, according to the newspaper.Washington's defense attorney, Susan Kellerman, claimed the Feds have no case against her client. "If the government had a case, they'd bring it," she said. "The reality is, they have no idea who [killed Jam Master Jay]."