Costa Rica Sportsbook Operator Forfeits $25M, Avoids Prison in Tradewinds Case

A Costa Rica-based businessman who admitted running the veteran offshore sportsbook Tradewinds quietly avoided prison earlier this year and was ordered to forfeit $25 million in illegal gambling proceeds, according to federal court records that have recently come to light.

Michael Lawrence “Scott” Brannon pleaded guilty in February in the Eastern District of Texas to operating an illegal gambling business in violation of federal law. U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III sentenced him to 12 months’ probation, including six months of home confinement, according to a judgment entered February 19.

Originally from Orange County, Calif., Brannon will serve the first six months of his probation in the United States. The remaining six months may be served in Costa Rica, where he resides.

$25M in Gambling Proceeds

Brannon admitted that he “conducted, directed, and financed” Tradewinds, an illegal sports-betting business involving at least five other people, from August 2013 through April 23, 2021, and violated Texas gambling laws, according to court filings.

He also admitted receiving at least $25 million in proceeds from the operation. He agreed to forfeit that amount as well as Tradewinds’ website, trdwd.cc.

The court subsequently entered a $25 million forfeiture judgment, with $7 million due shortly after sentencing and the remaining $18 million payable in three $6 million installments following completion of Brannon’s home confinement.

Tradewinds had operated from Costa Rica since at least the late 1990s and was part of the early generation of offshore sportsbooks serving gamblers outside the country.

Brannon is the second individual to be prosecuted by federal authorities over the same operation.

Clarence “Gary” Austin pleaded guilty in 2023 after admitting that he also conducted, directed, and financed Tradewinds during the identical August 2013-to-April 23, 2021 period.

Austin’s Past Life

Austin made a name for himself in the 1970s as a professional high-stakes sports bettor. He even had his own show on ESPN in the early 1980s, offering betting advice. He later operated a regulated retail sportsbook on the Las Vegas Strip, Gary Austin’s Race & Sports Book, which closed in mysterious circumstances in 1985.

When bettors arrived at the sportsbook to collect their winnings, they found a note on the door saying the business had permanently shuttered following an armed robbery the previous day. The notice allegedly added that no further winning tickets would be honored.

Austin later resurfaced in Costa Rica, where he became an early player in the emerging offshore online sports betting industry.

In 2021, he was living in a Florida mansion when it was raided by the FBI in connection with the Tradewinds operation.

In 2023, Mazzant sentenced him to five years’ probation, including six months of home detention.

Austin ultimately forfeited the extraordinary haul seized by federal authorities, including $1.295 million in cash, 61 one-kilogram gold bars, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, millions of dollars held in bank accounts, annuities, and investment products, and four luxury vehicles, including a Lamborghini Urus and Porsche Cayenne. Three Florida properties were also forfeited.

Brannon’s probation began April 6. Under the terms of his sentence, he is prohibited from owning, operating, managing, consulting for or otherwise participating in any gambling business, including online or telephone betting operations.