A hit-and-run motorist who killed Nicki Minaj’s father in a suburban New York incident pleaded guilty and was given a year or less in prison, disappointing prosecutors and the rapper’s mother. After striking Robert Maraj while strolling down a snowy road in Mineola in February 2021, Charles Polevich, a 71-year-old businessman, acknowledged in Nassau County state court to leave him on the side of the road to die.
According to the criminal complaint, Polevich exited his vehicle, examined the injured Maraj, and asked if he was okay before returning to his 1992 Volvo and driving away without dialing 911. He returned home, placed his automobile in his garage, and covered it.
He admitted to hiding the vehicle and tampering with evidence. Maraj, 64, died the next day at a hospital. Polevich will serve “no more than one year in jail,” according to Judge Howard Sturm, as well as community service and a suspended license. On August 3, he will receive his formal sentencing.
Polevich’s attorney, Marc Gann, described the hit-and-run as “totally out of character” for his client, who is from Long Island but runs a drilling and water purification company in Guam.
“He feels immense sorrow for Maraj’s family and tremendous guilt for any role he may have played in his death,” Gann said after the hearing. He speculated that Polevich had a physical condition that prevented him from being “completely conscious of what he was doing,” but stressed that this was not a legal reason. Messages were addressed to Nicki Minaj’s agents, who described her father’s death as “the most heartbreaking loss of my life” in a blog post last year. Onika is a platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated rapper best known for songs like “Anaconda,” “Starships,” and “Super Bass.”
She detailed a tumultuous connection with her father in interviews from years ago. He had changed, she subsequently claimed.
She wrote after his death that she wished she could call him and talk to him.
