CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The estranged wife of South Florida developer Sergio Pino wanted half of her husband’s fortune in their divorce and refused to settle for an offered $20 million, according to a criminal complaint for one of the nine people arrested in a murder-for-hire plot.
According to the complaint, one of the suspects, Fausto Villa, contacted Avery Bivins, who he previously met in state prison, sometime in October or November of 2023 and said a wealthy man, later identified as Pino, contracted him to kill his estranged wife, Tatiana.
Authorities said Bivins then contacted a third person, Clementa Johnson, to kill the victim. He also allegedly enlisted Diori Barnard and Vernon Green, with Green eventually being tasked with carrying out the murder, which was ultimately unsuccessful.
Authorities confirmed that Pino and his wife had been in contentious divorce proceedings since 2022.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe said when they arrived at Pino’s Coral Gables house Tuesday, agents were cleared to pick him up on a probable cause arrest. Pino instead took his own life.
Charges against him would have included conspiracy to commit murder.
According to the FBI, Pino hired two separate crews of hitmen to try and undertake the heinous crime.
Crew one, which included Bayron Bennent -- hired help on Pino’s yacht -- was responsible for vehicle arsons and obtained the fentanyl Pino allegedly used to poison his wife.
When that failed, authorities said they rammed her car with a flatbed truck.
After the first crew was busted and with Pino already under investigation, authorities say he was undeterred in his mission of killing his wife.
Authorities said he hired a second crew, which included Villar, who did roofing work for Pino.
“The part of this that is even more striking is that Mr. Pino knew at some point that law enforcement was onto him because after the first crew failed, at that point he knew, and acquired counsel,” said Lapointe. “That didn’t stop him. He wasn’t intimidated that the FBI was actively investigating him -- that didn’t bother him at all. Law enforcement was disturbed by the level of brazenness that he had even though he knew they were after him, even though he knew they were onto him.”
The contract was to shoot Tatiana Pino to death for $150,000, with a condition that she die before the next divorce proceeding, authorities said.
They said Villar would get another $150,000 if the murder did not connect back to Pino.
According to Villar’s criminal complaint, Johnson brought on other people to “complete the contract” which Villar said needed to be done before June 24 “to ensure that she could not make the next divorce proceeding between her and Pino.”
According to his criminal complaint, it was Green who attempted to kill her on June 23 outside her home.
Authorities said Tatiana was pulling into her driveway when she noticed a Black male pulling out a gun and running toward her car.
In an attempt to get away, Tatiana drove into her backyard, “scraping the sides of her car against a tree and fence,” the complaint stated.
According to the complaint, Green ran into the backyard before running back toward the front of the home where he spotted the Pino’s adult daughter who went outside after hearing a loud crash and her mother continuously honking the horn.
The complaint states that the daughter ran toward the front open gate and spotted a black Dodge RAM pickup truck parked on the street.
Green then ran up behind her, pointed a gun at her head, grabbed her arm and told her to go back into the house, the complaint stated.
Authorities said Green then jumped into the back passenger seat of the pickup truck and the getaway driver sped away.
Lapointe said the gunman decided not to shoot the daughter because that was not what the job or contract entailed.
READ BELOW: U.S. vs. Fausto Villar