A hit-and-run driver pleaded guilty Friday in a suburban New York crash that killed the father of Nicki Minaj and was promised a year or less in jail, disappointing prosecutors and the hip hop star’s mother.
In state court in Long Island’s 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.
Authorities said 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. Polevich pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence by concealing the car.
64 year old Maraj, 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 on August 3.
The victim’s widow, Carol Maraj, told reporters she was “not happy” with the planned sentence.