Two separate tragic incidents in Miami’s waters — both tied to prominent local real estate figures and which each ended in the death of a teen — are headed for very different legal outcomes.
Commercial broker George Pino, CEO of Doral-based State Street Realty, faces a felony vessel homicide charge, and his attorneys recently filed a slew of court motions seeking to keep statements made by Pino and other information related to his alleged alcohol consumption before the crash from being mentioned by prosecutors during his trial, slated to start on June 1, the Miami Herald reported.
Pino was steering the boat on Biscayne Bay on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend in 2022 with 14 occupants, including his wife, daughter and 11 other teenage girls when the craft crashed into a concrete channel marker. The crash killed 17-year-old Luciana “Lucy” Fernandez and left Katerina “Katy” Puig, now 21, with a lifetime of physical disabilities.
Pino’s defense team is asking the court to exclude during trial a statement he made to an investigator the night of the crash that the wake of a larger boat headed toward his vessel and caused the crash.
His attorneys are asking Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez to bar testimony from the jury trial that recounts a witness’ statement that Pino had bloodshot eyes the night of the crash and that he had told police he had had “two beers” that day. The defense also wants to preclude the jury from hearing that Pino’s boat contained 61 empty alcohol containers when it was pulled out from the water after the crash.
Pino had given some of his statements to police and an investigator before he was read his Miranda rights, according to his attorneys.
Pino’s attorneys also filed motions to dismiss the criminal charges or to move the trial to Palm Beach or Orlando due to extensive media coverage of the crash in Miami-Dade County.
Pino originally faced misdemeanor charges of careless boating, but prosecutors issued the more serious vessel homicide charge in 2024 after a witness came forward.
This year, a neurologist issued a report on whether Pino had suffered a traumatic brain injury, causing amnesia and false memories for his recollection of the incident. The neurologist was hired by Pino’s attorneys, indicating they may use the doctor’s testimony in the trial.
In another fatal incident in Miami’s waters that devastated the real estate community and the city as a whole, 15-year-old Ella Riley Adler –– daughter of Adler Real Estate Partners’ Matthew Adler –– died in a 2024 incident. Adler was wakeboarding in May 2024 in waters off Key Biscayne. She had fallen off her wakeboard when another boat struck her.
The captain of the yacht that was towing the 15-year-old struck a plea deal, the Miami Herald reported.
Edmund Richard Hartley pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of navigational rule violations. Under the plea deal, prosecutors dropped two other misdemeanor charges, and Hartley was ordered to complete a boating safety course, barred from steering a vessel for 60 days starting next month, and was sentenced to six months probation. For the second charge, he also faces a second six-month probation term, though prosecutors could terminate this if he completes the first term. In addition, no criminal conviction will appear on Hartley’s record.
Adler’s parents approved of the plea deal, though Matthew Adler told Hartley during a court hearing on Tuesday that he should have been more cautious.
“At just 15 years old, Ella was flourishing. Her final year was in many ways her happiest and most exciting,” Matthew Adler said in court, the publication reported. “She was thriving academically, participating in debate, performing in the school musical ‘Chicago’ and growing into an exceptional young woman with limitless potential ahead of her.”
The captain of the boat that struck Adler, Carlos Guillermo “Bill” Alonso, also received a deal, pleading guilty to misdemeanor careless boating charges. He was sentenced to six months of probation and ordered to complete a boater safety course.
The Adler family started the Ella Ridley Adler Foundation that supports Jewish life, education and art. —Lidia Dinkova