A Miami real estate mogul accused of poisoning his wife with fentanyl was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his mansion on Tuesday during an FBI raid related to an ongoing investigation into a murder-for-hire plot to kill his wife.
SWAT teams discovered the body of Sergio Pino, 67, on Tuesday morning as they were recovering electronic devices, a safe and three boxes of documents in a second-floor bedroom of a multimillion-dollar mansion in the posh, gated Coral Gables neighborhood, police sources said. He told WPLG.
The developer is under investigation for allegedly paying people to kill his estranged wife of 32 years, Tatiana Pino, after he claimed during divorce proceedings that he repeatedly poisoned her with fentanyl.
Pino’s lawyer, Sam Lavin, confirmed that he committed suicide and criticized the police response.
“Sergio Pino took his own life today. The law enforcement activity at his residence was unprecedented and unnecessary, especially since we had offered to turn him in if it became necessary,” he told WPLG.
“Today’s events represent an incredibly tragic ending to an investigation that we were confident we could successfully defend,” Rabin continued.
“Rumors and suspicions abounded, but what was missing was evidence.”
Tatiana claimed that in 2022 she suffered from symptoms including difficulty breathing and that doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore detected fentanyl in her system after she was intubated six times.
Tatiana believes her husband secretly drugged her with deadly opioids, and she suggested Century Homebuilders Group founder Sergio had a “financial motive” to poison her.
She filed for divorce in April 2022.
Last month, the FBI searched Pino’s Cocoplum home and Coral Gables office as part of an investigation into the threat to Tatiana’s life.
A person familiar with the case told the Miami Herald that Pino is accused of hiring Byron Bennett, a part-time worker on his yacht, to hire three men to blackmail his wife after she filed for divorce.
Bennett and three other men were charged in Miami federal court with attempted hit-and-run at a Pinecrest home and setting three of Bennett’s sister’s cars on fire.
According to WPLG, security camera footage shows Tatiana parking her car in her driveway in August 2023 when a Home Depot rental flatbed truck parked nearby suddenly swerved from behind, slamming into the passenger side of her SUV and then driving away.
Pino was not charged with any crimes prior to his death.
“In the midst of an already complicated divorce process, we also had to deal with terrorism and an attempt on Tatiana’s life. It’s horrific,” Tatiana Pino’s lawyer, Raymond J. Lafour, told the outlet on Tuesday.
“Thankfully, the FBI is involved and is working hard to keep Tatiana safe and bring those responsible to justice.”
“There is no indication that he harmed or attempted to harm his wife,” Pino’s divorce lawyer, Deanna Shifrin, said in a statement.
“I believe the combination of needlessly destructive divorce proceedings and selective and salacious media coverage was humiliating for him and contributed to this tragedy,” she said.
