Demetric Scott (Photo courtesy: Milwaukee County Jail)
MILWAUKEE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Milwaukee man was charged Monday with framing an undocumented immigrant in a plot to kill President Donald Trump.
Officials say Demetric Scott, 52, admitted to impersonating 54-year-old Ramon Morales-Reyes while penning letters threatening to assassinate Trump.
The handwritten letters were sent May 21 to the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office, the Milwaukee police chief and the Milwaukee ICE office.
According to the criminal complaint, the name and return address handwritten on all the envelopes in blue ink matched that of Morales-Reyes. Each letter wrote about Trump’s immigration policy and threatened to kill ICE agents or Trump.
Because his name was on the envelopes, Morales-Reyes — an immigrant living in the United States illegally — was arrested May 21 by ICE agents after he dropped his child off at school in Milwaukee. He was taken into custody at the Dodge County Jail.
The story of his alleged threats on Trump’s life received a flood of media attention and was highlighted by the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
But investigators argued Morales-Reyes couldn’t have written the letters because he is unable to read, write or speak English fluently. Additionally, court documents say officials obtained a handwriting sample from Morales-Reyes that did not match the handwriting in the letters.
Detectives interviewed Morales-Reyes with the help of a translator. When asked if anyone had a reason to get him into trouble, Morales-Reyes said the person who had robbed him, Demetric Scott.
Authorities say Scott set up Morales-Reyes in an effort to prevent him from testifying at Scott’s trial in July. Court records show Scott is in custody at the Milwaukee County Jail for armed robbery-use of force and aggravated battery. Morales-Reyes is a victim in the case.
According to The Associated Press, “Law enforcement officers listened to several calls Scott made from the jail in which he talked about letters that needed to be mailed and a plan to get someone picked up by ICE so Scott’s trial could get dismissed.”
Scott is now facing new charges of:
- Felony identity theft (Harm reputation)
- Two counts of felony bail jumping
- Felony intimidation of a witness (by a person charged with a felony)
Morales-Reyes is a married father of three who works as a dishwasher in Milwaukee. He recently applied for a U visa, which is designed for people in the U.S. illegally who become victims of serious crimes.
“While he has a U visa pending, those are unfortunately backlogged for years, so we will be looking at other options to keep him here with his family, which includes his three US citizen children,” Morales-Reyes’ deportation defense lawyer, Cain Oulahan, wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
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