Prominent real estate broker George Pino appeared in court Wednesday via Zoom after being charged with felony vessel homicide related to a boating accident that claimed the life of a young passenger more than two years ago.
He was ordered to surrender by Nov. 21 by a Miami-Dade County judge.
Authorities said Pino, then 52, was behind the wheel of a 29-foot Robalo boat in the early evening hours of Sept. 4 when he lost control and slammed it into a channel marker near Boca Chita Key, killing Lucy Fernandez and seriously injuring 17-year-old Katerina Puig and another victim whose name has not been disclosed.
At the time, Pino, his teenage daughter, her friends, and his wife were celebrating a birthday on the water, according to investigators.
Pino told detectives he lost control of the vessel after hitting a wave, stating, "The wheel turned a little bit and I lost full control and I think I turned."
