A Wisconsin man has been charged with forging letters to frame and deport another man who was a potential witness against him in a robbery case.
Demetric D. Scott, 52, allegedly sent letters to state and federal officials claiming to be from Ramón Morales Reyes that threatened to kill President Donald Trump and bashed immigration policies.
He was charged in a Milwaukee court on Monday with felony witness intimidation, identity theft and two counts of bail jumping.
The letters were received on May 21 by the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office, the Milwaukee Police Chief and Milwaukee Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office.
The letters were handwritten and all about “immigration policy and threatening to kill ICE agents of Donald Trump,” according to the criminal complaint.
Morales Reyes, 54, was arrested on May 22 because his name was on the return address, the complaint said.
The Department of Homeland Security had posted about his arrest in May, with Secretary Kristi Noem saying, “Thanks to our ICE officers, this illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump is behind bars.” The news release included a photo of Morales Reyes and a photo of the handwritten letter that threatened to shoot Trump at one of his "big" rallies.
However, the investigating detective discovered that Morales Reyes doesn’t read write or speak English fluently and needed translation assistance. A writing sample also showed Morales Reyes’ handwriting was different from the one in the letters, authorities said.
Law enforcement asked if Morales Reyes knew anyone who would want to get him in trouble. Morales Reyes said only the person “who had robbed him” — Demetric Scott, the complaint said.
Morales Reyes told the detective he knew Scott was in jail on an armed robbery charge. Court records show Scott is awaiting trial in Milwaukee County on armed robbery and aggravated battery charges from September 2023.
Following that interview, law enforcement listened to several of Scott’s jail calls and found that, since April 27, he had made several calls about mailing letters, the complaint said.
In a May 16 call, Scott said that “this dude is a goddamn illegal immigrant and they just need to pick his ass up. I’m dead serious cause I got jury trial on July 15th.” Later in that call he said: “The judge will agree cause if he gets picked up by ICE, there won’t be a jury trial so they will probably dismiss it that day. That’s my plan.”
On May 30, a Milwaukee police detective conducted an interview with Scott and he admitted to writing the letters and addressing the envelopes himself, authorities said, adding that he said he wrote them seeking “freedom.”
He said his intention wasn’t to go after Trump, but to prevent Morales Reyes from testifying, authorities said.
A search warrant was executed on May 30 at Scott’s jail cell and a blue pen was found — the letters were written with blue ink — along with pink paper with a note reminding himself he needs the attorney general's office address, as well as an envelope.
An attorney for Scott, Robert Hampton III, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new charges.
Kime Abduli, an attorney for Morales Reyes, said Morales Reyes was a victim of armed robbery of aggravated battery and Scott is the defendant in the case, which is set for trial July 14.
“It is our understanding that Mr. Scott targeted (Mr. Morales Reyes) because of his immigration status with the express intent of having him removed from the United States so that (Mr. Morales Reyes) could not testify against him,” Abduli said.
The attorney said Morales Reyes remains in ICE custody and is in removal proceedings at this time, which does not mean a person will be automatically deported.
A senior Department of Homeland Security official said Morales Reyes will remain in custody.
“The investigation into the threat is ongoing. Over the course of the investigation, this individual was determined to be in the country illegally and that he had a criminal record,” the official said.
The DHS news release from May said that Morales Reyes had "entered the U.S. illegally at least nine times between 1998-2005" and he had a criminal record with arrests on charges of felony hit and run, criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifier. The release said he'll remain in ICE custody at Dodge County Jail in Juneau, Wisconsin, pending removal proceedings.
Cain W. Oulahan, an immigration attorney for Reyes, said that he and his family are “relieved that it is now clear who the actual writer of the threatening letters is.”
They “have been traumatized by these events and hope to be reunited soon. We will be seeking his release on bond while his deportation hearings advance. We will also be pursuing any legal options available for him to remain in the U.S." Oulahan added, noting they would like the DHS to issue a public statement "acknowledging their error and calling for a stop to any threats against him and his family."
Oulahan said that Reyes has a U visa pending that was filed in March but that the backlog for approving such visas is taking years. Such visas allow undocumented victims and witnesses of certain crimes to stay in the U.S. for up to four years if they help in an investigation.
