Convicted Staten Island killer's court room tirade costs him more prison time

Staten Island Advance/Michael OatesJermaine Lewis arrives at Stapleton Criminal Court for his arraignment in this May 19, 2010 photo.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- He probably should have stopped at "I’m sorry," but convicted killer Jermaine Lewis kept talking at his sentencing yesterday, and those words cost him two more years behind bars.
The 21-year-old Lewis — who pleaded guilty last July to first-degree manslaughter in the May 17, 2010 shooting death of Timothy Browning, 39, in Mariners Harbor — was slated to get between 12 and 15 years behind bars under the terms of his agreement with prosecutors.
He ended up with 15 years in prison.
But he may have gotten 12 or 13, according to law enforcement and court sources familiar with the case, had he not spoken up.
"I’m sorry," he told state Supreme Court Justice Robert J. Collini , then, after a pause, launched into a diatribe that ended with the line, "And if I had to do it, I’d do it all over again," sources recounted.
Lewis, who goes by the street name "Wild Blood," quarreled with Browning during a late night block party. Lewis was handing out cigarettes, and when Browning asked for one, he refused, leading Browning to pull a knife, according to law enforcement sources.
Lewis then retrieved a gun, and went after Browning, shooting him four times.
Browning — a weightlifter nicknamed "Body Beautiful" and "The General" — could have overpowered the smaller Lewis in a fight, his sister told the Advance in 2010.
When asked about the sentence and about Lewis’ statement in court, his lawyer, Mario Gallucci, said, "It’s unfortunate. Mr. Lewis is a very troubled youth with severe psychotic disabilities."