Nicki Minaj's older brother Jelani Maraj 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 (Jan 27) 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," the Metro portal cited him as saying in court before the sentencing was announced.
In 2017, Maraj, now 41, 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 just 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 older 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 hoRead More – Source
Nicki Minaj's older brother Jelani Maraj 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 (Jan 27) 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," the Metro portal cited him as saying in court before the sentencing was announced.
In 2017, Maraj, now 41, 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 just 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 older 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 hoRead More – Source
