Nicki Minaj‘s brother, Jelani Maraj, is opting to take his child rape case to court after turning down two plea deals.
Maraj was arrested in December 2015 when a 12-year old girl claimed that he’d been raping and sodomizing her for eight months. He was booked on first-degree child rape charges and first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child. Maraj has turned down two plea deals. The first deal was for seven years before he was indicted by grand jury. The second deal was for 15 years after prosecutors charged that his DNA was matched with semen found on the accuser’s clothes. Now that he has opted to go to trial, Maraj faces life in prison.
Maraj’s attorney David Schwatz tells Bossip, “He is choosing to go to trial because he is not guilty of these allegations and has faith in our system of justice.”
Pre-trial hearings begin later this month.
Nicki has yet to make any pubic statements about her brother’s case.
Photo: Nassau County PD
