Overview
- A Miami jury on Monday evening, June 22, 2026, found George Pino not guilty of second-degree manslaughter and vessel homicide after roughly two hours of deliberation.
- Pino had faced felony charges that carried up to 15 years in prison and stemmed from a Sept. 4, 2022, collision with a channel marker near Boca Chita Key that threw passengers into the water.
- Prosecutors argued at trial that Pino was driving recklessly at high speed on the wrong side of the channel and that alcohol was present on the boat, while the defense said the crash was a tragic accident and that Pino was not impaired.
- Trial evidence included body‑camera video, GPS and forensic reconstructions, testimony from survivors and experts, and an in‑court inspection of the damaged 29‑foot boat, and Pino did not testify in his own defense.
- After the verdict the lead prosecutor said she was disappointed and accepted the jury's decision and Pino's attorney called the outcome a vindication of the accident theory leaving the Fernandez and Puig families to continue coping with the crash's lasting harm.