Driver Pleads Guilty in Crash That Killed Nicki Minaj's Dad, Will Serve No More Than 1 Year - New York Daily News

5/6/22, 10:41 PM Driver pleads guilty in crash that killed Nicki Minaj’s dad, will serve no more than
erve no more than 1 year – New York Daily News
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CRIME
Driver pleads guilty in crash that killed Nicki Minaj’s

dad, will serve no more than 1 year
By Jennifer Peltz
Associated Press • May 06, 2022 at 7:16 pm
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A hit-and-run driver pleaded guilty Friday in a Long Island crash that killed the
father of Nicki Minaj and was promised a year or less in jail, disappointing Privacy - Terms
d h hi h ’ h
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-driver-plea-crash-nicki-minaj-father-20220506-nsg3gj4qf5ei5cgzceozzyekhy-story.html 1/5
5/6/22, 10:41 PM Driver pleads guilty in crash that killed Nicki Minaj’s dad, will serve no more than 1 year – New York Daily News
prosecutors and the hip-hop star’s mother.
In state court in Nassau County, businessman Charles Polevich admitted leaving

the scene of the February 2021 accident that fatally injured Robert Maraj as he
walked along a road in Mineola.
Nicki Minaj is seen in 2015. (Matt Sayles/Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)
Polevich initially got out of his car and looked at the injured man on the ground,
but then drove off, didn’t call 911, garaged his car and covered it with a tarp,
authorities said. Polevich pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence by
concealing the car.
Maraj, 64, died at a hospital the next day.
Judge Howard Sturim said Polevich would get “no more than one year in jail,”
along with community service and a suspended license. The 71-year-old is due to
be sentenced Aug. 3.
The victim’s widow, Carol Maraj, told reporters she was “not happy” with the Privacy - Terms
planned sentence. The widow, who is suing Polevich, said seeing him in court left
her shaking at the memory of her husband fighting for his life in the hospital.
Prosecutors, who sought a one-to-three-year prison sentence, also took issue

with the planned penalty.
“Given the severity of the defendant’s conduct, we disagree with the sentencing
commitment from the court,” Nassau County District Attorney’s office
spokesperson Brendan Brosh said in a statement.
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Polevich’s lawyer, Marc Gann, called the hit-and-run “completely out of

character” for his client, who hails from Long Island but has a drilling and water-
purification business in Guam.
“He does feel tremendous empathy for Mr. Maraj’s family and tremendous
remorse for any role he played in his death,” Gann said by phone after court. He
suggested that Polevich might have had a medical problem that made him not
“fully aware of what he was doing,” while noting that it wasn’t a legal
justification.
Messages were sent to representatives for Nicki Minaj, who called her father’s
death “the most devastating loss of my life” in a post on her website last year.
The platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated rapper — known for tracks including

“Anaconda,” “Starships” and “Super Bass” — was born Onika Tanya Maraj.
In interviews years ago, she described a troubled relationship with her father. But
she later said he had changed.
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After his death, she wrote about wishing she could pick up the phone and talk to
him.
“He was very loved & will be very missed,” she wrote.
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5/6/22, 10:41 PM Driver pleads guilty in crash that killed Nicki Minaj’s dad, will serve no more than

erve no more than 1 year – New York Daily News

Driver pleads guilty in crash that killed Nicki Minaj’s

TODAY'S TOP VIDEOS

Top Videos: - New fence built around US Supreme Court

Listen to this article

In state court in Nassau County, businessman Charles Polevich admitted leaving

Nicki Minaj is seen in 2015. (Matt Sayles/Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

Maraj, 64, died at a hospital the next day.

Prosecutors, who sought a one-to-three-year prison sentence, also took issue

The Daily News Flash

Catch up on the day’s top five stories every weekday afternoon.

ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS >

Polevich’s lawyer, Marc Gann, called the hit-and-run “completely out of

The platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated rapper — known for tracks including

Singer Jewell Caples, known as ‘First Lady of

NEW YORK POLITICS

Adams visits Rikers for first time as mayor to

Copyright © 2021, New York Daily News

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