The Briefing:
- Clementa Johnson, 49, of Tallahassee, and Diori Barnard, 49, of Miami, are the final two defendants in a federal murder-for-hire prosecution targeting South Florida woman Tatiana Pino.
- Johnson faces up to 45 years in federal prison; Barnard faces up to 30 years, with sentencing dates pending.
- The scheme was orchestrated by South Florida real estate developer Sergio Pino, who prosecutors allege offered up to $300,000 to have his estranged wife killed before a divorce hearing.
- Tatiana Pino survived an armed attack outside her Pinecrest home on June 23, 2024, and Sergio Pino died by suicide on July 16, 2024, as FBI agents moved to arrest him at his $10 million Cocoplum estate in Coral Gables.
Two Florida men admitted in federal court to stalking and conspiring to murder a woman — then waited until a jury was already seated before entering those pleas, forcing the government to stand down a full trial at the last moment.
The collapse of the final defense in this case effectively closes a prosecution that dismantled a nine-person murder network — one built around a multimillionaire developer's refusal to let his estranged wife walk away with her share of a fortune.
A Divorce That Became a Death Contract
Tatiana Pino filed for divorce from her husband in April 2022, after more than 30 years of marriage. When she rejected what federal authorities say was a $20 million settlement offer — a fraction of an estate the court-appointed curator later valued at more than $115 million — prosecutors allege Sergio Pino decided murder was the less costly path.
Over the following year and a half, the FBI says he put two separate assassination crews into motion, offering up to $300,000 for a confirmed killing that could not be traced back to him. Early operations against Tatiana ranged from vehicle arsons meant to terrorize her family to an attempt to poison her with fentanyl — none of which succeeded.
The Attack That Cracked the Case
On June 23, 2024, gunman Vernon Green confronted Tatiana Pino as she arrived home from church at her Pinecrest residence. She managed to get her car to the back of the house and escape unharmed, even as Green pointed his weapon at her and at her adult daughter, who called 911 to report the attack.
The FBI acted three weeks later. On July 16, SWAT agents descended on Sergio Pino's $10 million waterfront estate in the Cocoplum community of Coral Gables. He died by suicide in an upstairs bedroom before agents could take him into custody, eliminating the prosecution's central figure while leaving nine co-defendants to face the legal fallout.
How Johnson and Barnard Entered the Picture
According to court records, Johnson and Barnard were drawn into the conspiracy after earlier attempts to kill Tatiana Pino had already failed. Johnson recruited the gunman and helped surveil the target; both men took part in the events surrounding the June 2024 attack that sent Tatiana fleeing for her life.
Per the Department of Justice, Johnson pleaded guilty on October 5 to conspiracy to commit murder for hire, murder for hire, stalking, and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. Barnard followed a day later, on October 6, admitting to the murder-for-hire conspiracy, murder for hire, and stalking — both men entering their pleas after a jury had already been empaneled to hear the case.
"We Will Pursue Every Participant"
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones used the resolution to send a direct warning to anyone who might treat a conspiracy charge as a numbers game. "No matter how many people are recruited... we will pursue every participant in a murder-for-hire conspiracy," Reding Quiñones said, with the FBI Miami Field Office under Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles leading the investigation.
The Network Behind the Hit — And Its Collapse
The plot's architecture ran through Fausto Villar, a convicted felon who had done roofing work at the Pino property and became the organizing figure of the second crew. Villar, who had met Avery Bivins in state prison, paid Bivins $75,000 of a $150,000 contract to assemble a group of convicted felons tasked with killing Tatiana by gunfire or fentanyl poisoning. After the FBI flipped Bivins — who secretly recorded a call that led directly to Villar's arrest the following day — the network unraveled quickly.
Bivins was sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison. Seven of the nine total defendants had resolved their cases before Johnson and Barnard's trial date arrived. A federal judge will now determine final sentences for the two remaining men, weighing U.S. Sentencing Guidelines against the gravity of a multi-year, layered assassination conspiracy that targeted the same woman repeatedly — and never stopped, even after failed attempts and mounting arrests.
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