Wisconsin Man Receives 16½-Year Prison Term for Forging Trump Threats in Deportation Plot
A judge has handed down a significant prison sentence to a Wisconsin man who fabricated threats against former President Donald Trump as part of a complex deportation scheme. Demetric DeShawn Scott, aged 52, was sentenced on Friday to 16½ years behind bars for his role in this elaborate criminal conspiracy.
Court Proceedings and Conviction Details
In January, a Milwaukee County jury found Scott guilty on multiple felony charges including identity theft, witness intimidation, bail jumping, and reckless endangerment. Judge Kristy Yang delivered the sentence, imposing consecutive terms of one year and six months for identity theft, five years for intimidation, and ten years for endangerment. Scott received credit for 882 days already served on the bail jumping charge.
The case originated from a September 2023 incident where Scott allegedly attacked Mexican immigrant Ramon Morales Reyes in Milwaukee. According to court documents, Scott kicked Morales Reyes off his bicycle, stabbed him with a box cutter, and stole the bike. At the time, Scott was out on bail for a separate burglary case, which Judge Yang dismissed on Friday.
Deportation Scheme Unfolds
While incarcerated following his arrest for the stabbing, Scott devised a plan to have Morales Reyes deported. He wrote multiple letters posing as Morales Reyes to state and federal officials, threatening to assassinate Trump at a political rally. These forged communications were written in English, despite Morales Reyes having limited English proficiency and literacy.
Federal immigration authorities took Morales Reyes into custody in May after U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem publicized his photograph on social media along with excerpts from the threatening letters. The White House and Trump supporters initially celebrated the arrest as an immigration enforcement success.
Investigation Reveals Truth
Investigators quickly determined the letters could not have been written by Morales Reyes. Forensic analysis showed the handwriting didn't match his, and his limited English skills made authorship improbable. Meanwhile, Scott was recorded making jailhouse calls discussing "letters that needed to be mailed" and a plan to have U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities detain someone to facilitate dismissal of his case.
Scott eventually confessed to police that he authored the threatening letters. Despite serving as his own attorney since December and maintaining his innocence during sentencing proceedings, Scott admitted his motivations to local media. "I had never stolen a bike from anybody, and so I did what I did because he was trying to get a visa and become a citizen," he told WDJT-TV as sheriff's deputies escorted him from the courtroom.
Aftermath and Immigration Status
The DHS news release featuring Morales Reyes' photograph remains online but now includes a disclaimer clarifying he is no longer under investigation for threatening Trump. However, he remains in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings. The release notes Morales Reyes entered the U.S. illegally nine times between 1998 and 2005 and has a criminal record including arrests for felony hit and run, property damage, and disorderly conduct with domestic abuse modifiers.
Morales Reyes was released on $7,500 bond in June. His attorney, Cain Oulahan, revealed in January that his client is currently residing with family in Milwaukee and has applied for a U-visa, which permits crime victims and their families to remain in the United States. Oulahan noted the U-visa process can take up to eight years, and his legal team plans to seek an order canceling the deportation entirely.
Morales Reyes moved to the United States from Mexico in the 1980s, working as a dishwasher in Milwaukee. He is married with three U.S. citizen children. A review of online court records shows no state or federal criminal cases in Wisconsin naming Morales Reyes as a defendant.
