		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="109460728"
		 data-section="1">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><header id="rh">
<div id="rh-masthead">
<h3 id="rh-ss"></h3>
<div id="rh-right">
<div id="rh-ssm">
<dl id="rh-follow">
<dd></dd>
</dl>
<h6><span style="color: #050000;"><strong>Jelani Maraj, was convicted Thursday </strong></span><span style="color: #050000;"><strong>of raping his stepdaughter at the home he shared with his wife of four months,</strong></span><span style="color: #050000;"><strong> in Long Island, NY, two years ago</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #050000;"><strong>Maraj, 38, older brother of rapper Nicki Minaj, faces 15 years to life in prison on the sexual assault conviction</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #050000;"><strong>Jury didn&#8217;t buy defense contention that the charges was a &#8216;shakedown&#8217; for $25M by his estranged wife, Jacqueline Robinson</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #050000;"><strong>Jelani Maraj, was charged with raping his wife’s pre-pubescent daughter </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #050000;"><strong>Maraj allegedly, raped and sodomized the 11-year-old victim repeatedly between April 1 and Nov. 30, 2015, as often as four times a week </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #050000;"><strong>The victim herself gave a graphic details of the assault </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #050000;"><strong>After victim&#8217;s testimony, it was “not that hard” for the jury to reach its verdict of GUILTY</strong></span></h6>
<h6 class="ra-caption"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-283000" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Jelani-Maraj-5.jpg" alt="Jelani Maraj 5.jpg" width="1200" height="807" />Nicki Minaj&#8217;s brother Jelani Maraj [left] was convicted of assaulting his pre-teen stepdaughter. He faces 15 years to life in prison</h6>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</header>
<div id="ra-wrap">
<div id="ra-body-wrap">
<aside id="ra-left">
<section class="ra-meta"></section>
</aside>
<article id="ra-body">The brother of platinum-selling rapper Nicki Minaj was convicted Thursday of repeatedly raping his 11-year-old stepdaughter in their Long Island home.<br />
The verdict in the trial of Jelani Maraj capped a sordid three-week Nassau County Court prosecution rife with horrific testimony from the shaken accuser about the unrelenting abuse.<br />
The jury deliberated over two days before returning its verdicts. A stoic Maraj showed zero emotion as he was convicted of predatory sexual assault against a child and endangering the welfare of a child.<br />
He faces 15 years to life in prison on the sexual assault conviction.<br />
<strong>Related articles: </strong><br />
<a href="https://konniemoments.com/2017/10/31/nicki-minajs-brother-repeatedly-raped-me-for-months-and-called-me-his-puppet-teary-teen-stepdaughter-testifies/" rel="bookmark">Nicki Minaj’s brother repeatedly raped me for months and ‘called me his puppet’ – teary teen stepdaughter testifies</a></p>
<p><a href="https://konniemoments.com/2017/10/25/nicki-minajs-sister-in-law-weeps-in-court-recalling-how-she-learned-her-husband-allegedly-raped-her-daughter/" rel="bookmark">Nicki Minaj’s sister-in-law weeps in court, recalling how she learned her husband allegedly raped her daughter</a></p>
<p><a href="https://konniemoments.com/2017/10/31/nicki-minajs-brother-repeatedly-raped-me-for-months-and-called-me-his-puppet-teary-teen-stepdaughter-testifies/" rel="bookmark"><img class="" src="https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jelani-maraj-seen-celebrate-at-his-august-wedding-with-sister-nicki-minaj.jpg?resize=620%2C620&;ssl=1" alt="Jelani Maraj, seen celebrate at his August wedding with sister Nicki Minaj.jpg" rel="prettyPhoto"></a></p>
<h6><strong>Jelani Miraj works for his younger sister, award-winning rap star Nicki Minaj, [right]</strong></h6>
<p>The accuser, now 14, girl testified that Maraj, 38, anally raped her at one point, slapped her in the face and ordered her to remain mute about his actions.<br />
Her kid brother testified about accidentally stumbling upon Maraj as he was sexually assaulting the girl.<br />
Juror Arthur Naclerio, said listening to their stories was difficult: “What (the victim) went through all that time,” he said.<br />
“Thinking that if it was a lie, how could she keep it up that long at that age?”<br />
He added that it was “not that hard” for the jury of eight men and four women to reach its verdict.<br />
Giving closing arguments Miraj&#8217;s defense team led by David Schwartz, insisted that the girl, now 14, and her mother concocted the allegations to extort $25 million from his client’s, sister Nicki Minaj.<br />
The victim&#8217;s mom Jacqueline Robinson planned a Godfather-like “shakedown,” Schwartz claimed: “There are 25 million reasons why these people (have lied),” he said.<br />
&#8220;Jacqui needed the marriage first &#8230; before breaking out her master plan &#8230; before taking all of Nicki Minaj&#8217;s money,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It only took [Robinson] four months to unleash hell on this family.&#8221;</p>
<h6 class="ra-caption"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-283009" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Nicki-Minaj-her-brother-Jelani-Maraj-right-and-his-wife-Jacqueline-Robinson-center-in-2014.jpg" alt="Nicki Minaj, her brother Jelani Maraj [right] and his wife, Jacqueline Robinson [center], in 2014.jpg" width="1200" height="1051" /> Nicki Minaj [left], victim&#8217;s mother Jacqueline Robinson [center], and her now ex-husband Jelani Maraj in 2014. The abuse was uncovered just four months after their wedding which was financed by the rapper</h6>
<p>There was enough reasonable doubt to acquit Maraj entirely, the lawyer argued.<br />
The crime scene was contaminated Schwartz contended, in reference to the prosecution’s DNA evidence.<br />
The court had been riveted when the now 14-year-old girl victim herself, testified in graphic detail, that her stepdad, Jelani Miraj, called her his “puppet,” and repeatedly raped her for months. She was just 11 at the time:<br />
“He would call me his puppet and told me I had no say in what he did to me,” the girl testified, saying Maraj, 38, sexually attacked her multiple times, during an emotion laden testimony.<br />
The molestation happened when the relationship between Maraj and the victim&#8217;s mother, Jacqueline Robinson, went south, The first sexual assault occurred in April 2015, just fourth months before Robinson married Maraj in $30,000 celebration where Minaj picked up the tab.<br />
During the trial a prosecution witness testified that semen found on the accuser’s pajama bottoms was a one-in-291 billion match with defendant Maraj.<br />
Defense attorney David Schwartz, in his closing argument, accused Maraj’s now ex-wife of planting the DNA.<br />
“It’s all about money and it’s all about revenge,” he told the jury, an argument which Assistant District Attorney Emma Slane, described as “Absolute absurdity,” in closing.<br />
Maraj was arrested Dec. 1, 2015, on charges of predatory assault, second-degree course of sexual conduct and a misdemeanor charge of acting in a manner likely to injure a child.<br />
Contrary to prior speculation neither Nicki Minaj nor her brother testified in the case.</p>
</article>
</div>
</div>

Guilty! Nicki Minaj’s brother convicted of raping stepdaughter, 11, in Long Island – Jelani Maraj faces 15 years to life in prison
