Sergio Pino’s life was the kind of Miami success story that usually involves endless ribbon cuttings, glossy magazine profiles and a lot of luxury real estate.
Instead, it ended like a Miami noir thriller: A powerful developer, a shattered marriage, a murder plot against his estranged wife, Tatiana Pino, death by suicide and a messy fight over his empire.
Two years ago, Sergio Pino died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his Coral Gables waterfront mansion rather than be taken by federal agents serving an arrest warrant. Since his death, Pino’s empire has been at the center of an estate battle, lawsuits and competing versions of who should control what.
Despite reaching a settlement with her brother-in-law, her kids with Sergio Pino and her late husband’s children from his first marriage, Tatiana Pino is still fighting with the curator of Sergio Pino’s estate and his mistress Nancy Pastor over bank accounts and real estate assets tied to the couple’s enterprise, Coral Gables-based Century Homebuilders Group, one of the nation’s largest Hispanic-owned development firms.
Meanwhile, the characters involved in the conspiracy to kill his widow, Tatiana Pino, are facing a criminal court reckoning. Seven of the nine men Sergio Pino hired to stalk and kill her have pleaded guilty, and most have received long prison sentences, court records show. The remaining two are taking their cases to trial in the fall.
Hit-and-run
Two months after she filed for divorce in 2022, Tatiana Pino pulled into her driveway when a Home Depot rental truck slammed into her car and drove away.
Two years later, shortly after four men involved in the hit-and-run were arrested for stalking Tatiana Pino, she and her daughter were the victims of another terrifying incident at her home. A man with a gun chased Tatiana Pino on her property and pointed the weapon at her daughter, according to an FBI arrest affidavit.
The incidents were part of a wider conspiracy by Sergio Pino to have his estranged wife killed rather than face the financial and personal consequences of a divorce that threatened to split apart his empire, authorities alleged.
Pino built a formidable portfolio and reputation that placed him among South Florida’s notable developers. But according to federal investigators and court documents, the divorce was not simply a marital dispute. It was a threat to the architecture of his wealth, and Tatiana Pino stood the most to gain.
On the morning of July 16, 2024, an FBI SWAT team descended on Pino’s home to arrest him. A crisis negotiating team, family friends and attorneys attempted to call him, but there was no answer. The tactical unit entered the house and found Sergio Pino’s body in his bedroom.
Murder-for-hire
At a news conference the day after Sergio Pino’s death, FBI top brass and federal prosecutors laid out his efforts to eliminate Tatiana Pino.
Investigators said Pino allegedly hired two separate crews to carry out the hit. The first set of alleged attackers was linked to the hit-and-run, as well as setting fire to vehicles that belonged to Tatiana Pino’s sister. Sergio Pino also tried to poison Tatiana Pino with fentanyl, a criminal complaint states.
Members of the first crew included Bayron Bennett, a handyman who worked on Sergio Pino’s yacht excursions. Bennett was accused of enlisting three other men — Michael Jose Dulfo, Jerren Keith Howard and Edner Etienne. In July, Bennett pleaded guilty to four counts of murder-for-hire conspiracy, stalking, racketeering and use of fire to commit a felony. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 30.
Between April of last year and October, Dulfo, Howard and Etienne each pleaded guilty to three counts of stalking, racketeering and use of fire to commit a felony. Dulfo received a prison sentence of three years, Howard got hit with 13 years in the slammer, and Etienne received an eight-year prison sentence, court records show.
The second crew was led by Fausto Villar, a roofer who did some work for Sergio Pino, who recruited Avery Bivins. The pair met while both of them were serving time in state prison, arrest affidavits show. Bivins brought in Clementa Johnson, Vernon Green and Diori Barnard. Investigators identified Green as the gunman who confronted Tatiana Pino and her daughter. Johnson drove Green to Tatiana Pino’s home.
In April and June of last year, Villar pleaded to one count of murder for hire conspiracy, while Bivins and Green pleaded guilty to three counts of murder-for-hire conspiracy, stalking and brandishing a firearm. Villar’s attorneys and prosecutors are looking to postpone his sentencing hearing, according to an April 9 request to seal a forthcoming motion that lays out reasons why they want to delay it.
In September, Bivins was sentenced to 19 years in prison, and Green’s sentencing hearing is set for April 23. Johnson and Barnard are going to trial, which is scheduled to begin on Sept. 30.
Estate fight
The day after Sergio Pino’s death, the saga shifted from the criminal conspiracy to a fight over the riches he left behind. His brother, Carlos Pino, filed a petition in Miami-Dade probate court to have himself appointed as the personal representative for Sergio Pino’s estate. To back up his claim, Carlos Pino produced a will stating Sergio Pino appointed him as the estate’s personal representative.
However, Sergio and Tatiana PIno each owned half of Century Homebuilders, and she became the company’s president upon her husband’s death. Her lawyers claimed that Carlos Pino had “no personal knowledge” of how Century Homebuilders was being run. A judge appointed an independent curator, Philip Schecter.
In October, Carlos Pino reached a settlement with Tatiana Pino, her children with Sergio Pino, and his children from another marriage. Under the deal, Carlos dropped his bid to serve as personal representative of the estate, gave up his interest in a Key Largo vacation home, and had a nearly $700,000 debt wiped out by Century Homebuilders, which Tatiana now fully controls. Tatiana Pino also agreed that Jacqueline Pino Wechsler, one of Pino’s children from his first marriage, would receive 50 percent of the proceeds from the $71.5 million sale of a Miami apartment building last March. The remaining 50 percent would be split between Tatiana Pino and Sergio Pino’s four children, including Wechsler.
However, court records show Tatiana Pino has filed petitions demanding that Schecter release $850,000, representing a 50 percent share from the sale of a property in the Florida Keys, as well as funds in multiple bank and investment accounts, including $430,000 in a Charles Schwab account. Tatiana Pino contends the $850,000 and the accounts are not part of Sergio Pino’s estate, and belong to Century Homebuilders.
Prior to and after Sergio Pino’s death, some of his entities were transferred to real estate agent Nancy Pastor, his longtime mistress, court records show. In August, Tatiana Pino and her daughters sued Pastor in Miami-Dade Circuit Court over her control of Century Midtown Doral. The pending complaint accuses Pastor of being part of a wider effort to divert value and control away from the family.
In March, one of the affiliates managed by Pastor sued an entity managed by Wechsler and Schecter to block Sergio Pino’s daughter from receiving any proceeds from the sale of the Miami apartment building.
