Wisconsin Man Found Guilty of Forging Trump Death Threats in Deportation Plot
A Milwaukee County jury has delivered a guilty verdict against a Wisconsin man who fabricated death threats against former President Donald Trump in a calculated scheme to have a witness against him deported from the United States.
Jury Deliberations and Immediate Custody
After deliberating for the majority of the day on Thursday, the jury found 52-year-old Demetric Scott guilty of felony identity theft and witness intimidation. Scott, who represented himself throughout the three-day trial, was taken into custody immediately following the reading of the verdicts. This swift action left no opportunity for comment from the defendant on Thursday evening.
The Underlying Robbery and Fabricated Threats
According to detailed court documents, the case originated from a September 2023 incident in Milwaukee. Mexican immigrant Ramon Morales Reyes was riding his bicycle when Scott approached him, forcibly kicked him off the bike, stabbed him with a box cutter, and stole the bicycle before fleeing the scene. Scott was arrested mere hours later.
While incarcerated, Scott authored multiple letters, fraudulently posing as Morales Reyes, which were sent to both state and federal officials. These letters contained explicit threats to assassinate former President Trump at a political rally. In May, federal immigration authorities detained Morales Reyes after he dropped his daughter at school.
Political Amplification and Investigative Findings
The arrest was prominently highlighted by then U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who shared Morales Reyes' photograph on social media alongside an excerpt from one of the forged letters. The White House and supporters of former President Trump subsequently framed the arrest as a significant achievement within the administration's broader immigration enforcement strategy.
However, investigators quickly uncovered discrepancies. They determined Morales Reyes could not have authored the letters, as he possesses limited English proficiency, cannot write in the language, and the handwriting did not match his own. Concurrently, Scott was recorded making jailhouse calls discussing the need to mail letters and a plan to prompt U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain someone, ostensibly to have his trial dismissed. Scott later confessed to police that he was the author of the threatening correspondence.
Verdicts on Multiple Charges and Sentencing
Scott faced additional charges related to the bicycle incident, including armed robbery, battery, and reckless endangerment. The jury acquitted him on the robbery and battery counts but returned a guilty verdict on the reckless endangerment charge. Furthermore, Scott was already on bail for a 2022 party-to-burglary charge when the bicycle incident and letter scheme occurred, leading prosecutors to file three counts of bail jumping. The jury found him guilty on one of these counts while acquitting him on the other two.
In total, Scott now faces a potential maximum sentence of 26 years within the state prison system. His sentencing is scheduled for February 27, while the separate burglary charge remains pending.
Aftermath for the Victim and Ongoing Immigration Case
The DHS news release featuring Morales Reyes' photo, which initially touted his arrest, remains on the department's website but now includes a disclaimer. It states he is no longer under investigation for threatening Trump but remains in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings. The release details that Morales Reyes entered the U.S. illegally on nine occasions between 1998 and 2005 and references a criminal record including arrests for felony hit and run, property damage, and disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifier.
Morales Reyes was released on a $7,500 bond in June and is currently residing with his family in Milwaukee, according to his deportation defense attorney, Cain Oulahan. He has applied for a U-visa, available to victims of crime and their families, though Oulahan notes the process could take years. Wisconsin online court records show no criminal cases involving Morales Reyes, and Oulahan asserts that all background checks he has conducted have yielded no results.
Morales Reyes immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in the 1980s, worked as a dishwasher in Milwaukee, is married, and has three children who are U.S. citizens. Oulahan stated that Scott's conviction provides immense relief to Morales Reyes and his family, who have endured significant trauma. "He’s been traumatized by going through all this, all these different levels that feel like victimization," Oulahan said. "He just wants to work and be with his family again."
