Prominent Broker George Pino Charged With Felony Homicide For Boat Crash In 2022
UPDATE, NOV. 11, 10:40 A.M. ET: George Pino pleaded not guilty on Nov. 7 to one count of vessel homicide. The original story follows below:
George Pino, president of Doral-based State Street Realty, is now facing a felony homicide charge following a 2022 boating accident in Biscayne Bay that resulted in the death of one teenager and the serious injury of another.
Pino was charged with the felony in a Thursday morning court hearing after prosecutors reevaluated the case, the Miami Herald reported. Pino was driving a 29-foot Robalo boat on Sept. 4, 2022, when it struck a concrete mile marker near Boca Chita Key. There were 14 passengers on the boat, all of whom were ejected and sustained some form of injury in the crash, according to state investigators.
Our Lady of Lourdes Academy student Luciana “Lucy” Fernandez, 17, died from her injuries, while her classmate, Katerina Puig, also 17 at the time, suffered a traumatic brain injury, leaving her disabled. Another teenage passenger, Isabella Rodriguez, sustained a serious head injury but has fully recovered, per the Herald.
Last August, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office filed three misdemeanors of careless operation of a vessel, but those charges were dropped to pursue the felony charge.
If convicted, Pino could face a $10K fine and between 15 and 30 years in prison. When reached by email Friday, Pino provided Bisnow with a statement from his attorney, Howard Srebnick.
“I am dismayed by the State’s surprise-decision to file this new charge more than two years later,” Srebnick said in the statement.
The new charge was announced following a statement from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue firefighter Mathew Smiley, who was one of the first to address the scene after the accident, the Herald reported. Smiley told prosecutors that Pino showed signs of being intoxicated after the crash.
The final report from the incident from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which investigates boat crashes, stated that Pino was not suspected of being under the influence while driving the vessel, so no sobriety tests were conducted. The day after the crash, 61 empty alcohol bottles and cans were found on the boat after it was pulled from the water, the Herald reported.
Video footage acquired by NBC6 South Florida showed Pino telling investigators from the FWC that he "had two beers" before the crash, and investigators said in response that “it's not illegal to drink a couple beers and drive." Pino declined to submit a blood sample or take a breathalyzer, per the Herald.
“Officers on the scene of the crash determined that Pino was not intoxicated; Pino did not exceed any posted speed limit, Pino had the required number of Coast Guard-approved life preservers on board the vessel, and despite sustaining a head injury himself (requiring fifteen stitches), Pino made heroic efforts to rescue the injured passengers, including diving under the capsized boat,” Srebnick said in his statement. “This was an accident, not a crime, much less a felony.”
The FWC worked with the state attorney’s office to conduct the investigation last year, but several witnesses to the crash told the Miami Herald, which has been investigating its aftermath, that they were never contacted despite providing their information to investigators.
The investigation was closed Aug. 14, 2023, the FWC said in a release at the time, resulting in the misdemeanor charges.
“This boating accident hit the Miami community at its core,” FWC Major Alberto Maza said in the release. “So many lives were forever changed in an instant. Our hearts still break for the victims of this tragedy. Our investigators have completed a comprehensive investigation into the accident, and hope that the answers provided in the report can provide some small measure of peace.”
Pino has been a leading broker in South Florida's commercial real estate industry for nearly three decades. He has arranged almost $2B in sales transactions and brokered more than 26M SF of commercial leases, according to his biography on State Street Realty's website. He was awarded NAIOP's Industrial Broker of the Year five times, most recently in 2015.
Before State Street Realty, Pino worked for 20 years as senior vice president at Codina Group and Flagler Real Estate Services.
