The last two defendants charged in a years-long murder-for-hire plot against Tatiana Pino went on trial Monday in Miami federal court, facing charges of murder-for-hire conspiracy, stalking and firearm offenses tied to a scheme prosecutors say her estranged husband, developer Sergio Pino, spent years trying to carry out. Clementa Johnson and Diori Barnard are the final two of nine men charged in the case, with the trial beginning at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham.
A Plot Rooted In A Bitter Divorce
The case traces back to 2022, when Tatiana Pino filed for divorce from Sergio Pino, the former head of Century Homebuilders Group, according to the Miami Herald. The divorce turned bitter after Pino offered her a $20 million settlement that she rejected, citing a 1992 prenuptial agreement she said entitled her to half of an estate valued between $150 million and $360 million, as The Real Deal reported. Century Homebuilders, headquartered in Coral Gables, built more than 16,000 homes across South Florida and became one of the largest Hispanic-owned homebuilding companies in the country.
Prosecutors allege Pino organized two separate crews to intimidate, attack and attempt to kill his wife, per the Herald's reporting. Conspiracy allegations included an attempted poisoning with cyanide, arsenic and fentanyl, stemming from unexplained medical episodes Tatiana Pino suffered between 2019 and 2022 — nausea, foaming at the mouth and heart distress severe enough to require a cardiac pacemaker — that led her to tell federal authorities she believed her husband had poisoned her, The Real Deal reported.
Two Crews, Arson And A Truck Attack
The first crew, assembled by Pino's yacht handyman Bayron Bennett and including Michael Dulfo, Jerren Howard and Edner Etienne, set vehicles on fire as part of the conspiracy and attacked Tatiana Pino with a rented Home Depot flatbed truck in August 2023, the Herald reported. Those men later pleaded guilty and received federal prison sentences ranging from three to 13 years, according to The Real Deal.
After that first crew was arrested in early 2024, federal prosecutors say Pino turned to roofer Fausto Villar to assemble a second team, offering a total payout of $300,000 — $150,000 upfront and $150,000 upon completion — with an added $50,000 bonus if the killing could not be traced back to him, according to Local 10 News. That second crew tracked Tatiana Pino across Miami-Dade and Monroe counties and at one point abandoned a plan to kill her by injection, per the Herald.
A Gun Pointed At Her Daughter's Face
The plot's most violent moment came on June 23, 2024, when gunman Vernon Green approached Tatiana Pino's vehicle with a pistol outside her home and pointed the gun inches from the face of her adult daughter, Alessandra Pino, before fleeing. U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe later said Green decided not to shoot the daughter because that was not what the job entailed, according to Local 10 News. Green pleaded guilty in June 2025.
Investigators built their case using surveillance footage, vehicle records, license-plate readers and cellphone data, the Herald reported. License-plate records placed a rented Mazda immediately behind the stolen truck roughly 1.3 miles from Tatiana Pino's residence, helping tie the conspiracy together.
Pino's Death Amid The FBI Raid
Sergio Pino, 67, died by suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on July 16, 2024, inside his waterfront mansion in Coral Gables as an FBI SWAT team executed search and arrest warrants connected to the case, according to The Real Deal. His death left him absent from the trial now underway, though a superseding indictment had charged nine men with 17 counts on July 31, 2024, per the Herald.
Avery Bivins, who helped recruit Clementa Johnson and gunman Vernon Green after meeting Villar in state prison, pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire conspiracy, stalking and firearm charges and is now serving a nearly 20-year federal sentence, the Herald reported. Seven other men charged in the case have pleaded guilty to charges related to the murder-for-hire plot.
Johnson's Arrest And Reversed Plea
Johnson was arrested on July 1, 2024, at the Clay County Sheriff's Office. According to prosecutors, he said he was hired to recruit people to kill Tatiana Pino and was promised $250,000, receiving $12,000 in advance, with Pino offering a $50,000 bonus if the killing could not be traced to him, per the Herald's account.
Johnson signed a plea agreement and factual proffer on June 6, 2025, but declined to plead guilty at his scheduled plea hearing on June 23, 2025. The proposed agreement would have required him to plead guilty to conspiracy, stalking and firearm brandishing, a charge carrying a mandatory minimum of seven years to be served consecutively to punishment on any other counts, the Herald reported. A magistrate judge, Detra Shaw-Wilder, separately rejected a challenge to Johnson's arrest while recommending that statements he made after unequivocally requesting counsel be excluded from trial.
What Comes Next
Under 18 U.S.C. § 1958, federal murder-for-hire offenses carry up to 10 years in prison if no injury occurs, up to 20 years if personal injury results, and up to life imprisonment or the death penalty if death results, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Mandatory minimum penalties under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) also apply for brandishing firearms during violent crimes. At trial, the government must prove the charged offenses against Johnson and Barnard beyond a reasonable doubt, the Herald noted.
Separately, Tatiana Pino assumed control of Century Homebuilders Group following her husband's death, while a legal fight continues in Miami-Dade probate court between her, Sergio's brother Carlos Pino, and estate curators over company assets, including a $45.4 million apartment mortgage default lawsuit, according to Bisnow. That probate dispute remains separate from the criminal trial playing out this week in Miami federal court.
