Florida real estate mogul George Pino was found not guilty Monday of smashing his boat into a channel marker, leading to the death of a 17-year-old girl.
The jury in Miami-Dade County deliberated for about two hours before finding Pino, 55, not guilty of felony second-degree manslaughter and vessel homicide charges in the 2022 crash that killed Luciana “Lucy” Fernandez and left another girl, then 18, with permanent and debilitating injuries. He pleaded not guilty.
The father and well-known Doral real estate broker had been hosting several teen girls for his daughter Carolina’s 18th birthday on his 29-foot boat when they crashed in Biscayne Bay on Sept. 4, 2022.
Pino was accused of driving the boat at 47 miles per hour when it slammed into the channel marker, tearing a large hole in the side of the vessel and sending all of the passengers — including his wife, Cecilia, and 12 teen girls — into the water.
Eleven people were injured, and six were taken to the hospital.
Fernandez, who was reportedly trapped underneath the boat after it crashed, died from drowning-related injuries in the hospital about 12 hours later.
The slain teen was seen in a heart-wrenching video taken earlier that day, dancing and singing alongside her friends on the boat to Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl.”
Jurors listened to emotional testimony over eight days as Pino’s defense attorney, Howard Srebnick, argued the fatal crash was nothing more than a tragic accident.
“Every single witness who testified that was on the boat … felt the speed was safe. They’d been on his boat before, they felt nothing different, nothing unusual about how Mr. Pino was operating this vessel.
“He wasn’t drag racing, he wasn’t doing donuts in the water … he was not trying to be the ‘cool dad.’ I don’t know where that came from,” he said. “Nobody on the boat asked George to slow down.”
The vessel “was traveling in a straight line with a speed that [the boat] is designed to travel, in a zone where there’s no speed limit,” Srebnick said.
“If George had not hit the piling, nothing bad would have happened. The conditions were ideal … there was no oncoming boat traffic — it was a wide open bay. The speed had nothing to do with the injuries …with the crash,” he insisted.
Prosecutor Laura Adams, however, told the jury Pino was more concerned with being “the cool dad” than with the safety of the passengers.
“He was going full throttle with all these teenagers on board who have been consuming alcohol — as fast as he can through this narrow channel,” Adams said during closing arguments Monday.
Furthermore, “he decides to travel down the wrong side of the channel.”
“Because he was operating in such complete disregard for the kids on his boat, Lucy winds up like this in the hospital,” the attorney continued, and flashed a chilling photo of Fernandez in a hospital bed.
“Nobody and no one is responsible for the death of Lucy Fernandez except for that man right there — he is the reason why she is dead,” Adams continued.
Adams claimed that Pino, who was not sobriety tested immediately after the incident, was likely lying about having “two beers” while on the boat, as he later told investigators.
“He lied over and over again about what happened. Why? To shift the blame off of himself and in an avoidance of accountability,” the prosecutor said. “Just as he wasn’t exactly truthful about how the crash happened, perhaps he wasn’t as exactly truthful about how much he had to drink.”
A day after the crash, investigators found a total of 61 alcohol bottles and cans on the boat, the Miami Herald reported in July 2025.
Pino “wasn’t thinking about the well-being of his passengers — he wasn’t thinking about the well-being of his own wife and daughter,” Adams slammed.
“He was too wrapped up in trying to be the cool dad on the fast boat.”
Jurors ultimately sided with Srebnick and found that Pino was not at fault.
“We are grateful to the jurors for their careful consideration of the evidence and for reaching a just verdict. From the beginning, we have maintained that the events of September 4, 2022, were a tragic accident, not a crime,” Srebnick said in a statement after his client was cleared.
“The testimony presented at trial — including unrebutted accounts from eyewitnesses who saw no signs of impairment — confirmed that Mr. Pino was not under the influence, was not operating the vessel recklessly, and that he did everything he could to protect his passengers after the accident.
We continue to mourn the loss of Lucy Fernandez every day and to pray for all those affected by this maritime mishap. Our hearts remain with the families of those involved, and we hope today’s verdict allows everyone to continue the long process of healing.”