Wife of real estate mogul George Pino to pay $16M to parents of girl hurt in boat crash

MIAMI – The wife of prominent South Florida real estate broker George Pino will pay $16 million to the family of a girl seriously hurt in a September 2022 boat crash in Biscayne Bay as part of a lawsuit settlement, a Miami-Dade judge ruled.

Pino, 53, of southwest Miami-Dade, took out the 29-foot boat to celebrate his daughter’s birthday over Labor Day weekend with a group of friends when he crashed into a channel marker near Boca Chita Key, killing 17-year-old Lourdes Academy student Lucy Fernandez and injuring several others.

The 35-page lawsuit was filed by the parents of Katerina Puig, a Lourdes Academy student, who, according to the lawsuit, was permanently disabled in the Sept. 4 crash.

Fourteen people were onboard, including Pino’s wife, Cecilia, the family’s lawsuit states. Both were named in the suit, but Cecilia Pino will foot the legal judgment, which comes with a 9.34% annual interest rate.

According to the Miami Herald, Cecilia Pino had wanted to keep the dollar figure confidential for 10 years to “avoid substantial injury,” stating that media coverage of the case damaged business at George Pino’s company, State Street Realty, where Cecilia Pino also works.

The lawsuit says Pino was speeding when he ran into the channel marker in Cutter Bank, ejecting all on board.

The lawsuit states that the Pinos, who were supposed to be supervising the group of teenage girls, bought and allowed them to consume alcohol.

It also alleges that George Pino “refused a blood draw and/or breathalyzer testing after the accident…in order to conceal the fact that he had consumed alcohol to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired.”

Nearly a year after the crash, officials charged George Pino with one count each of careless operation of a vessel causing death and careless operation of a vessel causing serious injury, both misdemeanors. But authorities said they did not suspect impairment as a factor in the crash.

Officials said at the time the charges came after an “extensive marine investigation” conducted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and were the maximum allowable by law.

“The driving pattern of the vessel, as clearly indicated by the boat’s onboard GPS system, and the fact that the boat operator was not impaired by drugs or alcohol while operating the vessel limited the criminal charges applicable to the circumstances of this incident,” Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office spokesperson Ed Griffith said in a news release after the charges were announced last August.

Pino pleaded not guilty in the criminal case. According to Miami-Dade court records, a status report on the case is scheduled for Tuesday.