A Wisconsin inmate is facing multiple charges after allegedly concocting an elaborate scheme to frame an illegal immigrant by sending letters from the man’s name that threatened to kill President Donald Trump and attack government institutions.
Wisconsin inmate allegedly framed witness in his crime
Demetric Deshawn Scott, 52, was charged with identity theft and felony witness intimidation, along with two counts of bail jumping.
Prosecutors say Scott, who was already jailed for an alleged armed robbery, orchestrated a plot to prevent the victim, Ramon Morales Reyes, from testifying against him by framing Reyes as a national security threat.
According to the charges, Scott used his time in Milwaukee County Jail to coordinate the mailings of several letters that contained violent threats.
The messages, which were reportedly sent to the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office, the Milwaukee Police Chief, and the regional Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, threatened to assassinate President Trump and commit acts of terror similar to the September 11 attacks.
Each envelope carried the name and return address of Morales Reyes, the same individual scheduled to testify against Scott in an upcoming July 14 jury trial.
One of the handwritten notes included the statement, “I am not scared of the Trump Administration,” and bore the name of Morales Reyes, although investigators believe Scott was the real author.
Wisconsin inmate caught in the act on recorded phone calls
Scott allegedly dictated the mailing details over a series of phone calls made from jail, involving his mother and an acquaintance.
Prosecutors say he misled his mother into sending some of the letters without her full knowledge of their contents.
In one call, Scott reportedly referred to Reyes using a “godd— illegal immigrant” and declared his intent to get the man deported.
Prosecutors detailed Scott’s motivations in the criminal complaint, filed Monday, noting that he aimed to disrupt the legal process by making Reyes unavailable as a witness.
In one recorded call, Scott said, “Dude don’t come to court then they gonna have to dismiss my case.”
In another call, he reportedly stated, “They just need to pick his a– up. I’m dead serious cause I got jury trial on July 15th… if he is apprehended by the 16th, we can go into court and say, ‘Hey, he’s in custody now… there won’t be a jury trial so they will probably dismiss it that day. That’s my plan.”
Scott also told someone over the phone, “I don’t want to take a chance and lose, I’m facing too much time. So, I told my lawyer, postpone this get everything we can get that way I can beat this motherf—ing case.”
In a subsequent call, after Reyes was detained, Scott remarked that the man “got what he deserved.”
When investigators interviewed Scott on May 30, he reportedly admitted to writing the letters. Asked what was on his mind at the time, he responded with a single word: “freedom.”
He allegedly told officials he did not intend to specifically target Trump but believed invoking the president would bring rapid attention to his threats.
“The defendant stated that he believed the letters were the simplest way to get ‘this a–hole’ off his back,” read the complaint.
“The defendant stated that he knew that including a threat to President Trump in the letters would mean that Secret Service would have to get involved and law enforcement would definitely go to [Morales-Reyes’] house.”
According to prosecutors, Scott believed that mentioning the president would prompt federal involvement and lead to Morales Reyes being taken into custody by immigration officials, effectively preventing him from testifying.
In the letters, Scott—posing as Reyes—wrote inflammatory statements, including, “I have family that’s here from Nicaragua and they work harder than Americans,” and “[Someone] need to blow this entire country up like 911 in New York.”
Other excerpts included racial and anti-American sentiments, along with an explicit declaration of intent to kill ICE agents or “be killed.”
Following Scott’s court appearance on Monday, a commissioner ordered a $30,000 cash bail and scheduled a preliminary hearing for June 10.
Victim may still be deported
Meanwhile, Morales Reyes, who was arrested in May and still remains behind bars, appeared virtually before an immigration judge in Chicago, where his case was also set for continuation on June 10.
His attorney, Cain Oulahan, argued that Scott had taken responsibility for writing the threatening letter.
“A different individual has now confessed to writing that letter,” Oulahan told the judge.
A Department of Homeland Security attorney acknowledged during the hearing that Morales Reyes remains eligible for bond while his immigration case proceeds.
The judge said the upcoming hearing would determine whether Morales Reyes poses a threat to the community or is at risk of fleeing.
