FBI Records Reveal Defendant Sergio Pino Talks to Co-Conspirator in Murder Attempt – NBC 6 South Florida

As the FBI ramped up its investigation into men they suspected of being hired by Sergio Pino, a well-known South Florida real estate developer, to murder his wife, one of the men agreed in July to cooperate by giving one made a recorded call to the man he said had recruited him to form what the FBI called one of two “assassination squads.”

Avery Bivins had met the man he was supposed to call for the FBI while both were serving sentences in a Florida state prison – Bivins for attempted murder and armed robbery.

The target of his controlled call, Fausto Villar, was in prison for armed robbery.

“It’s going to be okay, everything’s going to be okay,” Bivins tells him.

“Just. But the damn smoke has to go away,” Villar replies. “Everything has to go away, the smoke has to go away. So try to fight back with what you have.”

But it was too late for Bivins to fight off the government.

The July 15 call marked a turning point in the investigation, as FBI arrest teams arrived the next morning to arrest Villar and Pino, who the U.S. Attorney's Office said had escaped a murder-for-hire charge solely because he killed himself shot in the head.

Pino and Villar were connected through Villar's wife's roofing company, which worked on the Pinos' $8 million waterfront home in Coral Gables.

The FBI alleges that Pino gave him a completely different assignment: to arrange the murder of Pino's wife, Tatiana, to whom he was married for 30 years.

In the July 15 call, Villar expressed concern because he knew federal authorities were already aware of the conspiracy because several of the nine people ultimately charged had been arrested.

And Pino spent that day changing lucrative trust arrangements he first entered into in March when he executed his last will – the same day one of the men he allegedly hired to kill his wife was arrested.

Bivins, knowing the noose was tightening around the conspirators, had his attorney offer cooperation to the FBI, Villar's attorney said during the Aug. 9 arrest hearing at which the call was made. A recording of the nearly two-hour proceeding was released Wednesday after the Miami Herald successfully petitioned the court to make it public.

It makes clear that Villar knew that part of Bivins' crew was already in custody and that he is concerned about possible conspiracy allegations.

“Why should you, if you get pinched, now this becomes a conspiracy,” Villar tells Bivins. “Now you can’t get rid of rap. Your two boys, or whoever the hell they are, can shatter the reputation.”

He sounds worried that Bivins could be arrested next.

“You should delete your ‘gram. “You delete your ‘gram,” he tells Bivins, concerned about her electronic trail. “You delete… delete. Do this for me, delete this. And then I'm going to go to zero-dark-30 on this shit for a while.”

The twisted story of developer Sergio Pino's alleged plan to have his wife murdered is increasingly coming into focus. NBC6's Tony Pipitone reports

Villar wanted to be released before trial, but the government successfully argued that he was too great a flight risk and danger to the community, noting at one point in the call that Villar told Bivins, “I'm not going back to prison.” .”

Villar had already paid Bivins $75,000 after Bivins accepted the $150,000 contract to kill Tatiana – with a $150,000 bonus if the crime was committed undetected, the FBI complaint says.

The Pinos are not mentioned by name in the call, but the prosecutor told the court that he was approached by Villar.

At one point he tells Bivins that more money would eventually come to him if everything went well for them: “So at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, I'm sure there will be a little gift for me and for all of you, so to speak. So let’s just do what the fuck we gotta do, G, okay?”

In case it didn't work out, Villar said, “We need a plan where, let's say, God forbid, one day they knock on your door or whatever, someone has to let me through here, like a code.” “or something, yo.”

Bivins, Villar and seven other men have since been charged in connection with the alleged murder plot or an earlier attempt to stalk Tatiana or her family and commit arson against them. All are being held ahead of trial and have pleaded not guilty. A lawyer for Pino said he also denied involvement.

As for the motive, Bivins later told the FBI something Villar had told Sergio Pino: Tatiana had rejected Sergio's $20 million divorce offer. Financial reports prepared as part of Sergio's divorce deed put the couple's net worth at more than $153 million and as high as $359 million in 2022.

On June 23, one of the men Bivins allegedly recruited for what the FBI calls the second “homicide squad” confronted Tatiana with a gun outside her Pinecrest home, but did not fire a shot when she arrived in her car She fled the back driveway and entered her home, according to the FBI.

In the July 15 call, Villar said Pino knew the FBI was watching him, so he told Bivins he couldn't get any more money out of him right now.

After the call, Pino's cellphone received a WhatsApp call from Villar and the two men exchanged WhatsApp messages, the complaint against Villar says.

They spoke for three minutes and 15 seconds. The contents of the call were now known only to Villar, as Pino's suicide ended the case against him.

Towards the end of his conversation with Bivins, Villar strikes a seemingly optimistic note.

“When this nonsense is over and we know this, we'll all be fine, you know what I mean,” Villar said. “Everything will be fine.”