Jelani Maraj, brother to Nicki Minaj has turned down two plea deals and has opted to take his child rape case to court.
He was arrested in December 2015 when a 12-year-old girl said he had been raping and sodomizing her for eight months. At the time, he was booked on first-degree child rape charges as well as first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child.
He had been offered two separate deals. The first was for 7 years and came before he was indicted and the second was for 15 years after his DNA was matched with semen on the clothes of the victim.
Choosing to go to trial means he could now get life in prison.
Speaking to Bossip Maraj’s lawyer David Schwatz said, “He is choosing to go to trial because he is not guilty of these allegations and has faith in our system of justice.”
Pre-trial hearings are scheduled for later this month. Nicki Minaj has not made any public statements about the case.