Either Nicki Minaj’s brother Jelani Maraj is being framed and has proof or he actually believes a jury of his peers is going to ignore DNA evidence and send him home a free man.
Maraj was arrested in December 2015 when a 12-year-old girl claimed he raped and sodomized her for eight months, up until the day before he was arrested. The 38-year-old Long Island resident was booked on first-degree child rape charges as well as first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child. Maraj turned down a plea deal for seven years in prison before being indicted by a grand jury. He was given another opportunity to cop out to a 15-year prison sentence if he pled guilty to predatory sexual assault of a child after Maraj’s DNA came back a match to the semen found on his young accuser.
Now Maraj is heading to court.
“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 attorney David Schwartz told Bossip. Schwartz, who specializes in sex crimes, was hired after Maraj fired his former high-powered attorney for recommending he take the plea deal.
Pre-trial hearings for the child rape case begin later this month. Maraj faces life in prison if convicted.
Nicki has remained silent on her brother’s legal troubles but is believed to be footing the bill for his defense. The star received major backlash when it was believed she posted $100,000 bail for Maraj. In actuality, it was their mother, Carol Maraj, who put up her house to keep her alleged child rapist son at home pending trial.
