Jelani Maraj, Nicki Minaj’s brother has been sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. According to reports, Maraj was found guilty of rape.
Maraj, Nicki Minaj brother found guilty of rape
The accused was found guilty of sexually abusing his former stepdaughter and was sentenced to jail by Judge Robert McDonald in the Nassau County Court on Monday in New York.
Jelani Maraj is the older brother of rap star Nicki Minaj.
He was born in Trinidad and Tobago four years before his famous sister and moved to New York City before he was ten-years-old.
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Maraj was accused and subsequently convicted of repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl.
The pair, who also have another sibling, had a troubled childhood with their father suffering from an alcohol addiction meaning they grew up with their grandmother and mum.
US newspapers reported the boy detailed what he saw in a basement bedroom in 2015 – as people quietly wept in the gallery in Nassau County Supreme Court, New York State.
The boy, who was 8 at the time, said the victim’s pants were “around her ankles”.
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Maraj, the boy testified, later found him and slapped him in the face “about 10 times”.
“He asked me if I had seen anything. I said, ‘Yes,'” the boy said. “He slapped me on the cheek.”
“Jelani said I wouldn’t see her again if I told on him. His face was kind of mad.”
The Defence lawyer David Schwartz tried to poke holes in the child’s testimony by getting him to admit the lights were off when he walked in on the rape.
“You would agree that when the light is not on, the room is very dark?” Schwartz probed. “Yes,” the boy answered.
Prosecutors said Maraj had sex with the young girl as often as four times a week.
A doctor also testified during the trial that the girl’s medical records strongly suggest she was having sex.
Prosecutors said Maraj’s DNA was found on a pair of the girl’s pyjama pants.
The defence claimed the allegations were concocted in a £19million ($25 million) extortion plot against Minaj, who was
Minaj posted her brother’s $100,000 bond when he was arrested in December 2015.
On November 9, Maraj was found guilty of predatory sexual assault against a child and endangering the welfare of a child.
The judge ruled that he was guilty of predatory sexual assault against a child and endangering the welfare of a child.
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