Scott Lawson: Where is the FBI Special Agent Today?

of Scott Lawson: Where is the FBI Special Agent Today? Aahana Swrup
August 12, 2024

In 2012, a years-long federal investigation came to a head when the FBI raided José Treviño’s house and stables in an operation involving a money laundering scheme with connections to the feared Mexican drug ring, the Los Zetas cartel. Many agencies had been looking for a way to catch the infamous criminal organization. Yet, rookie FBI Agent Scott Lawson’s operation — which circled the crime family through their American quarter horse racing endeavors — ended up helming one of the first set of arrests against the Treviño crime family. Naturally, after following the intricacies of Lawson’s investigation in the Apple TV+ docuseries ‘Cowboy Cartel,’ viewers are bound to grow interested in the FBI Agent and his current life.

Scott Lawson Led the Successful FBI Sting Operation Against José Treviño

Scott Lawson, a Tennessee native, grew up idolizing his father, a deputy at the local Sheriff’s Department. As such, he sustained aspirations of joining law enforcement from a young age. Fresh out of FBI Quantico, his stationing at Laredo, Texas, wasn’t exactly what he had hoped for. Nonetheless, after receiving a tip about a Mexican immigrant bricklayer, José Treviño, the city ended up being exactly the right fit for the young FBI Agent’s career.

José Treviño

Lawson was unfamiliar with the locality and spoke little Spanish. Even so, his skills, instincts, and close rapport with the informant, Tyler Graham, allowed him to put together an investigation against Treviño’s suspected involvement with Los Zetas’ criminal activities. Thus, after starting his investigation in 2009, the FBI Agent managed to expand his operation into an inter-agency pursuit after the Treviño cartel.

With the help of various informants, the dedicated attorney, Doug Gardner, Steve Pennington’s task force, and others, Lawson’s investigation finally bore results after three years. After Jose Treviño’s initial arrest in 2012, he and three others received convictions in 2013 of money laundering conspiracy for using Los Zetas drug trafficking profits to race quarter horses in America. He faced up to 20 years in prison, marking a successful end to Scott Lawson’s earliest federal investigations.

Scott Lawson Continues To Serve as an FBI Special Agent Today

Scott Lawson’s famed FBI operation against José Treviño and Los Zetas marked an early win in the Special Agent’s career. In the immediate aftermath, his name became household knowledge due to various coverages of the investigation by several news publications. Furthermore, acclaimed journalist Melissa del Bosque featured his account of the investigation in her nonfiction true-crime 2017 novel.

Thus, ‘Bloodlines: The True Story of a Drug Cartel, the FBI, and the Battle for a Horse-Racing Dynasty,’ shares a deeper insight into Lawson’s experiences. Even though the media scrutiny surrounding the operation and, subsequently, Lawson has significantly died down, the FBI Special Agent’s career continues to flourish. Currently, he lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Recently, in 2022, he spoke at the community college, Jackson Exchange, which he briefly attended in 2002. At the event, he discussed the Agency’s Child Abduction Rapid Development team.

Scott Lawson’s Life Could Be a Hollywood Movie

After Scott Lawson’s FBI Operation that brought the downfall of Los Zetas’ José Treviño, the federal Agent found himself entering a brief period in the media’s limelight. Likewise, the release of the Apple TV+ docuseries, ‘Cowboy Cartel,’ marks the return of the public’s attention to his professional life. Nonetheless, Lawson himself leads a relatively private life without a public social media presence. In fact, most aspects of the Special Agent’s life are shielded from the public eye.

From what Lawson has shared, we know his parents divorced during childhood, compelling him to alternate between living with his mother and father — sporting close relationships with both. Around 2012, while in the middle of the Treviño investigation, he also lost his father to a tragic heart attack. Yet, the same is the breadth of public information available about him, with no updates about his other relationships. Still, Lawson’s life remains inherently riveting — a fact Hollywood seems to agree with.

Consequently, in 2017, it was announced that Universal Pictures was interested in adapting Melissa Del Bosque’s book, ‘Bloodlines’ into a movie. Multiple names have been attached to the project, most notably Channing Tatum, who was set to produce and star in the film—likely as Scott Lawson himself. Even though there hasn’t been an update on the project in years, its initiation showcases the sustained interest in the FBI Agent’s exceptional experiences.

Read More: Miguel and Omar Trevino: Where Are Los Zetas Cartel Members Now?

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