Nicki Minaj’s brother Jelani Maraj has been sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment after being found guilty for the rape of a child.
The 41-year-old was handed his sentence in New York today after being convicted in 2017 for raping an 11-year-old girl, after being arrested and charged in 2015.
Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Robert McDonald issued the sentence on Monday (27 Jan) saying that Maraj had ‘ruined a child’ with his actions.
In response, Maraj said: ‘I’d like to apologize for the pain that I caused. I had an excessive drinking problem.’
Nicki, who was not present at the ruling, but a letter written on behalf of her brother back in 2016 calling him ‘patient, kind and gentle’ was read to the judge.
He was also given a 364 day sentence for endangerment of a child.
The victim of the crime, 14 years old at the time of the original trial, spoke about how the attacks against her left her ‘feeling like she had no voice’ and prone to anxiety attacks.
She was just 11 when the original attacks occurred.
Maraj was eventually caught after DNA evidence found on the girls pyjamas proved to be a one in 291million chance.
His lawyer David Schwartz said he plans to appeal, calling the sentence ‘excessive’.
‘There was clear juror misconduct amongst other issues,’ Pitchfork reports him saying, but did not elaborate on the issues.
In October 2019 there was an attempt to overturn the case, but it was thrown out.
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