Roofer recruited by developer Sergio Pino to plot hit job on his wife pleads guilty
A roofer who was working on Sergio Pino’s waterfront home when the Coral Gables developer recruited him to organize a hit job on his wife pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a murder-for-hire conspiracy and related charges.
Fausto Villar, 43, an ex-felon known by the nickname “Cuba,” also pleaded guilty to stalking Pino’s wife, Tatiana, and to brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. He’s now the fifth of nine defendants in the Miami federal case to opt out of going to trial next month in the hope of reducing his prison sentence in Pino’s plots to intimidate and ultimately attempt to kill his wife while the couple were engaged in a bitter divorce.
Tatiana Pino had sued her husband for divorce in 2022 and was still battling him in court over potentially tens of millions of dollars in joint personal and business assets when the 67-year-old developer fatally shot himself at his waterfront home in Coral Gables before FBI agents could arrest him last July.
On Tuesday, Villar entered his guilty plea during a brief court hearing with no further comments. His defense lawyer, Joseph Schuster, also did not comment about Villar’s plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Earlier this month, a gunman in Villar’s crew had admitted he threatened Pino’s estranged wife with a pistol last summer while she pulled into the driveway of her Pinecrest home. That man, Vernon Green, also said he pointed the weapon at her daughter’s face after she ran out of the home because of the commotion.
Green, 53, pleaded guilty to the main murder-for-hire conspiracy charge along with stalking and brandishing a firearm during a violent crime. Both Villar and Green, who also has a prior criminal record, face at least seven years in prison and potentially up to life at their sentencing in September.
Another member of Villar’s crew, Clementa Johnson, 49, who is accused of recruiting Green as the gunman, was scheduled to plead guilty on Monday. But he backed out at his hearing and now faces trial later this summer, along with two other remaining defendants.
Another defendant, Bayron Bennett, 34, a handyman who provided services for Pino’s yacht excursions, is scheduled to plead guilty in July. If he follows through on his plea deal, Bennett would be the sixth defendant to be convicted in the case.
Fighting over millions
Tatiana Pino, 56, who stood to inherit half of her husband’s empire — valued at more than $100 million — ended up receiving substantial marital and business assets after his death, but there are still unresolved disputes in probate court over his estate, court records show. She’s become president of her late husband’s business, Century Homebuilders Group in Coral Gables, while her daughter, Alessandra Pino, is director of administration.
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Here’s what FBI affidavits and other court documents say about Pino’s alleged plot targeting his wife:
On June 23, 2024, Tatiana Pino drove to church in Kendall. She was followed by a man who’d been hired to tail her that Sunday morning.
Ten miles away, in Pinecrest, another man was parked in a truck outside her house, waiting for her return from Calvary Church, according to the FBI documents. As Tatiana pulled into her driveway, Green exited his truck and ran toward her, brandishing a gun. Tatiana slammed the horn and floored the gas pedal, roaring into her backyard.
Tatiana’s daughter, Allesandra, ran out of the house and was confronted by Green, who pointed his pistol “inches from her face,” grabbed her arm and told her to get back, the documents allege.
After the botched attempt on Tatiana’s life, Green fled in his truck. FBI agents went to her home that Sunday to gather evidence, including security surveillance footage. The following day, agents raided her husband’s home and business, Century Homebuilders Group, in Coral Gables.
Prior guilty pleas
In mid-April, two Miami-Dade men who never personally knew Pino pleaded guilty to federal charges involving his hiring of two crews to kill his wife.
Michael Jose Dulfo, 43, pleaded guilty to charges of stalking, racketeering and use of fire as part of efforts to ram an SUV driven by Pino’s wife, Tatiana, and to torch her sister’s vehicles. Dulfo faces at least 10 years in prison, but because he’s cooperating with federal prosecutors, his ultimate punishment is unclear.
Avery Bivins, 37, pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire conspiracy, stalking and brandishing a firearm as part of attempts to kill Tatiana, including the incident where Green pointed the gun at the wife and then at her daughter in the driveway of their Pinecrest home. Bivens faces from seven years up to life in prison, but since he’s also cooperating with authorities, it’s unclear what prison time he will get at his sentencing.
They decided to cooperate with prosecutors Abbie Waxman and Brian Dobbins in the early stages, according to their lawyers. In fact, Bivins flipped for the FBI as a cooperating witness a few days before Pino killed himself, playing a critical role in solidifying the feds’ case.
If Pino, the former CEO of Century Homebuilders Group, had not killed himself on the morning of July 16 as FBI agents swarmed his home, he would have been charged in the indictment as the lead defendant who directed the murder-for-hire conspiracy that unfolded in two parts.
In the first part, Pino recruited Bennett, Pino’s handyman, who is accused of enlisting three other men — Dulfo, Jerren Keith Howard and Edner Etienne — for his crew in the alleged plot targeting the wife.
In May, Etienne, 29, pleaded guilty to stalking, racketeering and use of fire in an arson attack.
In this group, Howard, 39, is the only one left facing trial.
The group is accused of coordinating a couple of bizarre attacks to threaten and harm the wife. In August 2023, with Dulfo’s assistance, Etienne rented a Home Depot flatbed truck and rammed it backwards into Tatiana Pino’s Land Rover Defender in the driveway of her Pinecrest home and then sped away. Dulfo played the role of a lookout.
A month later, the same crew committed arson on three vehicles owned by Tatiana’s sister and brother-in-law at their Miami-Dade home, according to a factual statement filed with Dulfo’s plea agreement.
Second crew
In the second part, Pino recruited Villar, the former felon who was working as a roofer on his Cocoplum home.
Villar then enlisted another ex-felon, Bivins, whom he knew from prison, to help carry out the murder-for-hire scheme, according to the FBI. In turn, Bivins brought in another friend, Johnson, and he recruited his cousin, Green, as the gunman to execute the plot targeting Pino’s wife at her Pinecrest home a year ago, according to court records. Johnson is also accused of recruiting another member of the crew, Diori Barnard, to be a lookout during the assault on the wife.
Bivins, however, would end up betraying Villar when FBI agents persuaded him to call the roofer on July 15, 2024, on their burner cellphones. During that conversation, Villar recounted Pino’s plot to kill his wife at her Pinecrest home just weeks earlier and told him to cease contact until “the smoke clears,” according to court records.
The recorded conversation was a turning point in the FBI investigation that led to an attempt to arrest the high-profile developer the following day, when Pino killed himself with a gun in his Cocoplum home rather than surrender to agents.
Bivins’ decision to flip on Villar set the stage for the arrests of the roofer and others on charges of conspiring with Pino to kill his wife.
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
