Jelani Maraj will be sentenced this month for his child rape conviction.
Jelani Maraj, who is the older brother of superstar rap sensation Nicki Minaj, will know his faith when he appears before a judge on December 18 in the Nassau County Supreme Court. Maraj was convicted in 2017 for predatory sexual assault, as well as, endangering the welfare of a child, which is a misdemeanor. He is now facing up to 25 years in prison for his crimes.
Jelani suffered another crushing defeat in court last month when a judge denied his request for a new trial on the grounds of jury misconduct. His attorney filed court documents last year asking a judge to grant him a new trial on the grounds of numerous instances of jurors conducting themselves unlawful. According to Newsday, the 40-year-old’s attorney argued that jurors were reading news blogs and watching Wendy Williams show which berated Maraj as being guilty.
In another instance, one juror reportedly said that Nicki Minaj did not show up to court to testify in the trial, which makes her brother guilty of the crime. Following a review, the judge ruled that the alleged juror’s misconduct was not substantial enough to sway the verdict, which means the case will now proceed to the sentencing phase.
During the 3-week trial, Maraj’s defense lawyers argued that the child’s rape allegations were part of a plot perpetrated by her mother to extort millions of dollars from his famous sister, Nicki Minaj. The jury didn’t buy that argument and found him guilty of the heinous crime.
Nicki Minaj never showed up to court, and for good reasons. Even though she steered clear of the case, she received a lot of bad press for something that her brother did. Nevertheless, she showed up to his jail cell the day after his conviction to pay him a long-awaited visit.
