Nicki MInaj's Brother Headed To Court For 2015 Child Rape Charges
Jelani Maraj and Nicki Minaj [via Instagram]
Nicki Minaj's brother Jelani Maraj is now scheduled to stand trial to face charges of child rape.
Maraj has reportedly turned down a plea deal and has decided to leave his fate with his lawyers ånd a jury. He has been charged with first-degree rape and first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child.
“He is choosing to go to trial because he is not guilty of these allegations and has faith in our system of justice,” Maraj's new lawyer, David Schwartz, told Bossip.
Maraj was indicted by a grand jury in Nassau County, Long Island on April 4, and faces 15 years to life in prison if he is found guilty.
Pre-trial hearings are scheduled for coming weeks in February.
Bossip reports that prosecutors say that Maraj repeatedly raped and sodomized a 12-year-old girl over a period of eight months in 2015, with the final rape occurring the day before he was arrested in December 2015. In April, Maraj's lawyers said that his accuser was having sex with another older man, not him.
Nicki Minaj has reportedly put up two homes as collateral for her brother's bail, but she has not spoken publicly about the case.
