A jury in Wisconsin found a man from Milwaukee guilty of making fake death threats against President Donald Trump as part of a plan to frame his robbery victim for deportation and stop his own criminal trial.
After a three-day trial in which he defended himself, Demetric Scott, 52, was found guilty on Thursday of felony identity theft and threatening a witness. After the verdicts, he was taken into custody right away. The jury found him not guilty of armed robbery and battery charges related to the original incident, but they found him guilty of reckless endangerment and one count of bail jumping.
Scott is said to have attacked Mexican immigrant Ramon Morales Reyes in September 2023. He kicked him off his bike, stabbed him with a box cutter, and took the bike. While in jail, Scott wrote fake letters as Morales Reyes that said he would kill Trump at a rally. The letters were sent to state and federal officials, which led to Morales Reyes' arrest by ICE in May 2025.
"He has been hurt by going through all of this... He just wants to go back to work and be with his family.
— Cain Oulahan, lawyer for Ramon Morales Reyes
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem talked about Morales Reyes' arrest on social media, posting parts of the fake letters and his picture as part of the government's push to crack down on illegal immigration. The White House and its supporters called it a success.
Later, investigators showed that Morales Reyes could not have written the letters because he does not speak English well, cannot write well in the language, and the handwriting did not match. Scott told the police that he wrote the papers.
Scott called from jail to talk about the letters and his plan to get ICE to hold him so he could get out of his robbery case. When he is sentenced on February 27, 2026, he could spend up to 26 years in prison.
The scheme to forge and the wrongful arrest
Scott wrote several threatening letters pretending to be Morales Reyes and saying he would shoot Trump at a rally. Morales Reyes was arrested after dropping his daughter off at school because of the letters, even though he had no criminal record in Wisconsin.
Morales Reyes came to the U.S. in the 1980s. He is married to a U.S. citizen and has three children who are U.S. citizens. He works as a dishwasher. He has applied for a U-visa as a victim of crime, but he will have to wait a long time.
What happened next and what is still going on
The DHS release with Morales Reyes' picture is still online, but it now has a disclaimer that says he is no longer a suspect in the threat investigation. It also says that he is still in ICE custody while deportation proceedings are going on.
Important Charges and Verdicts
The case showed that someone was trying to use immigration enforcement to avoid being held responsible for a violent robbery.
✓ Felony identity theft and witness intimidation – Guilty
✓ Reckless endangerment – Guilty
✓ Bail jumping (one count) – Guilty
✓ Armed robbery and battery – Not Guilty
There is still a separate burglary charge from 2022. Scott was free on bail when the bike robbery happened.
Effects on the victim and immigration enforcement
Morales Reyes' lawyer said the ordeal was very traumatic and left the family in limbo while he fights deportation, even though he has lived in the country for a long time and was a crime victim.
The conviction shows how easy it is to make false accusations in immigration cases and how federal law enforcement tools could be used to affect state criminal cases.
He has been traumatized by going through all of this, all of these different levels that make him feel like a victim.— Cain Oulahan, Morales Reyes's lawyer
The sentencing will take place on February 27, 2026. The case shows how fake threats can hurt people when criminal justice and immigration policy meet.
In June 2025, Morales Reyes was freed on a $7,500 bond. He now lives in Milwaukee with his family while he waits for his U-visa.
