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Nicki Minaj's brother Jelani Maraj gets 25 years to life in prison for repeatedly raping 11-year-old girl

The victim, still a minor, had testified about the sexual assaults during the case in 2017. In much detail, she had claimed that the assaults occurred as frequently as four times a week and sometimes even twice a day, between April and November 2015 while her mother would be at work

On Monday, Jelani Maraj, the brother of rapper Nicki Minaj, was sentenced for predatory sexual assault after being charged with repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl. He was sentenced to 25 years to life behind bars.

According to Newsday, this judgment arrived following his 2017 conviction for sexually assaulting his former stepdaughter in their Baldwin home.

The same report suggests that the Nassau County Court sentencing followed State Supreme Court Justice Robert McDonald’s decision last year not to set aside Maraj’s conviction after an inquiry into potential jury misconduct. 

The victim, still a minor, had testified about the sexual assaults during the case in 2017. In much detail, she had claimed that the assaults occurred as frequently as four times a week and sometimes even twice a day, between April and November 2015 while her mother would be at work. The victim’s younger brother had also testified at the trial that he witnessed one incident of assault.

Not just that, prosecutors also said that DNA evidence recovered from the girl’s pajama pants was linked to Maraj.  At the time of the verdict, the Nassau County D.A. told TMZ, "We hope that today's verdict will help the family in the healing process."

According to Pitchfork, Maraj’s attorney David M. Schwartz said, “We will be appealing this excessive sentence. There was clear juror misconduct amongst other issues.”

Maraj was first charged in the case in April 2016, when he was accused of repeatedly raping his stepdaughter. Schwartz had then claimed at various points that the victim’s allegations were part of her mother’s conspiracy to extort $25 million from him and Minaj.

James R. Ray III, a civil attorney who briefly represented the mother, however, testified that he had demanded $25 million from Jelani Maraj after he had already been arrested to settle a potential lawsuit, as per AP. Ray added that the victim’s mother -- she later fired him as her attorney -- was unaware of the demand. “She was never involved as far as what we did.”