Nicki Minaj's brother convicted of raping stepdaughter

Jelani Maraj, elder brother of rapper Nicki Minaj (both right), has been sentenced to 25 years to life for raping his stepdaughter.
Jelani Maraj, elder brother of rapper Nicki Minaj (both above), has been sentenced to 25 years to life for raping his stepdaughter. PHOTO: NICKIMINAJ/ INSTAGRAM

NEW YORK • Nicki Minaj's elder brother Jelani Maraj, 41, has been sentenced to 25 years to life for raping his stepdaughter.

According to the Insider portal, the verdict in a New York court on Monday comes more than four years after he was arrested in 2015 over charges of predatory sexual assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child.

"I'd like to apologise for the pain that I caused. I had an excessive drinking problem," Metro portal cited him as saying in court before the sentencing was announced.

In 2017, Maraj was found guilty of the charges after a trial.

The victim told the court that she was assaulted numerous times over eight months in 2015 at his home in Long Island, New York.

She said while her mother was at work, Maraj raped her multiple times a week - starting when she was 11 years old - and sometimes twice a day.

Her brother testified that he saw Maraj assaulting his sister and later informed school officials.

During the trial, the accused's lawyer said he would appeal the verdict, alleging that the rape allegations were an attempt by the girl's mother to get rapper Minaj, 37, to cough up US$25 million (S$34 million) in hush money.

Minaj stood by her brother during the early days of the scandal.

The New York Post reported that she paid for Maraj's US$100,000 bail in 2015, using two of her houses as collateral.

In previous online postings that accompanied photos of the siblings together, Minaj wrote: "Jelani, I love u more than you'll ever comprehend."

Another caption said: "I would cross the ocean for u. I would go & bring u the moon. Promise u. For u I will. I love my brother so much man."

But other media reports said her relationship with him cooled after details of his behaviour emerged.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 29, 2020, with the headline Nicki Minaj's brother convicted of raping stepdaughter. Subscribe