Missoula real estate agent sentenced to almost 3 years for financial crimes

A Missoula real estate agent was sentenced Thursday to 33 months in prison for using fraudulent promises of boats, condos and Super Bowl tickets to scam investors out of over $700,000.

Brady Batista, 33, pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of wire fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of aggravated identity theft before Judge Donald Molloy in U.S. District Court in Missoula.

According to court documents, between March 2023 and February 2025, Batista scammed several people out of over $700,000 by claiming he could facilitate sales of items he didn't have, including Super Bowl tickets and a pontoon boat.

As part of this scheme, Batista impersonated multiple people via email, including a local Missoula lawyer.

In addition to the 33-month sentence, Batista will serve three years of supervised release and have to pay $788,632 in restitution. Batista has already paid back over $100,000 to various victims.

"He took efforts to pay back every person that he could," Batista's lawyer Nick Brooke said at sentencing.

Mike Batista, Batista's father and former director of Montana Department of Corrections, also spoke in his support of his son.

"Nobody is more remorseful than he is," Mike Batista said. "We believe in his potential."

Batista also addressed the court.

"I stand before this court in the deepest pain," Batista said. "I take full responsibility for the harm I've caused."