Nicki Minaj's brother is sentenced to 25 years to life for repeatedly raping his 11-year-old stepdaughter while her mother was at work (photos)

Nicki Minaj's brother has been sentenced to 25 years to life in a New York prison after he repeatedly raped his 11-year-old stepdaughter while her mother was at work. 

 

Jelani Maraj, 41, was found guilty of 'predatory sexual assault against a child and endangering the welfare of a child' in 2017 and on Monday, Nassau County Supreme Court Judge, Robert McDonald, refused to give him a soft sentence.

It was despite his lawyer reading a 2016 letter his famous sister wrote in a bid to reduce his time behind bars, calling him the 'most patient, gentle, genuine, giving selfless man I know'.
The judge said that his 'view is that you ruined this child'. 

Minaj - real name Onika Tanya Maraj- paid her brother's $100,000 bail back when he was first arrested for the crime in 2015.
The siblings were reportedly quite close prior to the arrest, with Minaj previously plunking down $30,000 to pay for her older brother's wedding to the mother of his rape victim.

Following this conviction, however, sources said the two grew apart. A week after his conviction, Minaj visited her brother in jail, but reportedly only did so to support their mother Carol, according to TMZ.