Brother of Nicki Minaj Indicted On Charges of Child Rape

The older brother of rap diva Nicki Minaj was back in court Tuesday, where he entered a plea of not-guilty to charges of first-degree rape.  37-year-old Jelani Maraj, was indicted on April 4th by a Nassau County Court grand jury, on counts of felony predatory sexual assault against a child, felony sexual conduct against a child under the age of 13, and endangering the welfare of a child.  A conviction could potentially result in a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

The indictment stems from a December arrest on allegations that Maraj had been sexually assaulting a minor over the course of several months.  The 12-year-old who came forward to file the report noted that the offenses occurred on at least two different occasions between April and November of 2015.  He was able to be arraigned on a $100,000 bond reportedly put up by his starlet sister. The services of lawyer to the stars Benjamin Brafman, and attorney Andrea Zellan, have been acquired to fight the case.  

Maraj, who works with children as the owner of Ozone Park Daycare in Queens, NY, has long been known to have a close relationship with Nicki; a fact she underscores on her song "All Things Go", when she rhymes: "I know Jelani will always love me, and I’ll always love him / and I’m just his little sister not Nicki Minaj when I’m around him." This past August she paid $30,000 to cover the expenses of her brothers wedding.  And according to reports she was prepared to fork over the $500,000 prosecutors originally requested with a letter of credit from a California bank holding $2 million in funds, before it was arranged that she'd back the $100,000 bond with two homes she owns in Hempstead, Long Island.  

Minaj has not commented publicly on the case.