GOSHEN - A City of Newburgh man was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in prison for fatally shooting a man in the back.

Prosecutors say that on March 7 Fabian Corley had just completed a “hand-to-hand” drug sale outside his Hasbrouck Street home in Newburgh when Hubert Hines approached, holding what turned out to be a BB gun. Corley pulled a pistol, which he had illegally, and fired at Hines even though Hines was trying to flee.

Hines, 31, also of the City of Newburgh, died at the scene.

Corley, 25, pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to first-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, felonies. Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 16 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and a concurrent 15 years on the gun charge, plus five years of post-release supervision.

Corley initially claimed he fired in self-defense. When he pleaded guilty, he acknowledged that wasn’t the case.

“I hate you,” Hines’ widow, Jasmine Hines, told Corley Thursday in Orange County Court at his sentencing. “Do you understand? I hate you. I hate you with a passion.”

She continued, sobbing as she spoke about how her three young children with Hines are suffering, acting out, grieving. Her oldest, just 6, she said, has been hiding Nerf guns under beds and couches. When she asked him why, she said, he told her he wants to protect her and his brother and sister.

Jasmine Hines told Corley that no matter what he did, her husband deserved to live. She told Corley he should be where her husband is. She implored Judge Craig Brown: “Judge, please, my babies don’t get to see their father again. I don’t get to see him again.”

She was overcome by weeping, and Brown told her that the rest of her handwritten statement would be copied for the sentencing record.

Assistant District Attorney Steven Goldberg told the judge there was no reason for a sentence below what prosecutors recommended.

Corley’s lawyer, Benjamin Greenwald, asked for concurrent 10-year sentences. Corley was a law-abiding church-going citizen until a car crash left him unable to work, and “he made a very bad choice to sell drugs to supplement his income,” Greenwald said.

“The victim was trying to rob him with a gun,” Greenwald argued. He said Corley reacted, knowing Hines had a reputation for violence and as a member of the Bloods Street gang. Corley chose poorly, Greenwald said. “He should have let Mr. Hines run away.”

Corley offered Hines’ family “my most humble and sincere apology,” and said he’s deeply sorry for the pain he caused. He said he should not have sold drugs or carried an illegal gun, but he acted out of fear, not anger when he shot Hines. He told the judge he has found comfort in faith, and plans to continue on that road, so he emerges from prison a better person.

Brown told Corley his choices put him in a terrible position.

“You then made the choice to fire at a man who was running away,” Brown said, and he imposed the concurrent 16- and 15-year sentences. “The bottom line is, you took a life, and now it’s time for you to pay for taking that life.”

Police also seized marijuana, cocaine and Suboxone from Corley’s home. The guilty plea covers the drug felonies he faced. Prosecutors have sought asset forfeiture from Corley, and he signed off on the documents in court.

hyakin@th-record.com