Long Island Man Pleads Guilty in Hit-and-Run Death of Nicki Minaj’s Father

Bill Donahue
·2 min read
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A Long Island man has pleaded guilty to two charges stemming from the 2021 hit-and-run death of Nicki Minaj’s father.

At a hearing Friday (May 6) in Nassau County court, Charles Polevich pleaded guilty to one count of leaving the scene of an accident and another count of evidence tampering relating to the February 2021 accident that killed Robert Maraj, court records show.

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Polevich is due back in court in August for sentencing. During the hearing, the judge committed to no more than one year in prison, according to Polevich’s attorney.

In a statement to Billboard, Polevich’s attorney Marc Gann said his client was “extremely remorseful for any role he may have played in Mr. Maraj’s death.”

“Mr. Polevich’s life story is one of helping others, which makes this case so out of character,” Gann said. “There are no allegations of substance use or abuse as causative of his conduct and it is our belief that a medical heart issue contributed to Mr. Polevich’s conduct. Mr. Polevich could not be more sorry for the loss of Mr. Maraj.”

Maraj was walking on a roadway in Mineola, N.Y., on Feb. 12, 2021, when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver. He died the next day at the age of 64. The next week, police announced that Polevich had been arrested over the incident.

Minaj, whose real name is Onika Tanya Maraj, did not speak publicly about the incident until May 2021, when she posted a message to her official website that said her father’s death had been “the most devastating loss of my life.”

“I find myself wanting to call him all the time,” Minaj wrote at the time. “More so now that he’s gone. Life is funny that way. May his soul rest in paradise. He was very loved & will be very missed.”

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