Man charged with witness intimidation, accused of falsifying threat to Trump to try to get victim deported

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2 days ago

A 52-year-old Milwaukee man charged with robbery and aggravated battery is now accused of trying to get the victim in his case deported, according to a criminal complaint.
Prosecutors say Demetric D. Scott was behind a series of letters sent to state and federal officials threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump.
The letters had the return address and name of the victim in his case, Ramón Morales-Reyes.
One day after receiving the letter, immigration agents arrested Morales-Reyes, 54, after he dropped his daughter off at school in Milwaukee.
'I'm just glad that they have identified who it was or have a better sense of who it was,' said Morales-Reyes' attorney Kime Abduli. 'And that Ramon is being cleared of any involvement in this.'
Days after his arrest, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued news release identifying Morales-Reyes as sending the letter threatening to shoot Trump — claims that immediately came under scrutiny from Morales-Reyes' attorney and family since Morales-Reyes cannot speak or write in English.
Scott was charged on June 2 with felony witness intimidation, identity theft and two counts of bail jumping. Earlier in the day, his attorney, Robert Hampton III, declined to comment to the Journal Sentinel.
Part of the case against Scott involved listening to calls he made while in jail, court records show.
"This dude is a (expletive) illegal immigrant and they just need to pick his (expletive) up," according to a call recording linked to Scott's jail inmate ID that is cited in the complaint.
The man later added on the same call: "And the judge will agree cause if he gets picked up by ICE, there won't be a jury trial so they will probably dismiss it that day. That's my plan."
Morales-Reyes is in the process of applying for a U-visa, a visa that allows undocumented victims and witnesses of certain crimes to stay in the U.S. for up to four years if they help with the investigation.
He applied to the visa as a victim and witness of a robbery Scott is accused of. According to Abduli, his application was delivered to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services over a month ago, and no receipt has been issued by the agency yet.
Abduli said this is not uncommon. Due to the significant backlog of cases, it takes about two months to get a receipt and at least seven to eight years to receive the visa. In the meantime, a pending application would not protect Morales-Reyes from deportation.
His deportation defense lawyer Cain Oulahan said at a press conference on May 30 that he is planning to find ways for Morales-Reyes to receive any form of immigration relief to be protected from deportation while his case is pending.
In an email on May 29, a senior DHS official said the investigation into the threat against Trump was ongoing.
"Over the course of the investigation, this individual was determined to be in the country illegally and that he had a criminal record. He will remain in custody," the official said at the time.
According to the complaint, Scott admitted on May 30 that he wrote everything on the letters and the envelopes to prevent Morales-Reyes from testifying in his trial.
The same day, a Milwaukee police officer executed a search warrant for Scott's jail cell where they found a blue pen and an envelope containing the Milwaukee ICE office's address and phone number.
'As a result of the defendant's actions, (Ramón Morales-Reyes) faces the possibility of removal from this country,' the complaint says. '(He) did not consent to anyone using his name and address in the sending of letters pretending to be (him).'
Scott already faced trial in the robbery case in January 2024 but a judge declared a mistrial when the jury could not reach a decision. A new trial date was set for July 14.
The case revolved around a bicycle.
On Sept. 26, 2023, Morales-Reyes was riding a bicycle on North 23rd Street near National Avenue.
His wife had purchased it a few weeks earlier and he was getting some exercise to help with his diabetes, he later said in court.
A man approached him and started shouting. Morales-Reyes pedaled way but the man caught up to him with the help of a driver in a red truck.
The man attacked Morales-Reyes with a corkscrew and cut him under his left armpit. The altercation was captured on a neighbor's Ring doorbell camera. The neighbor later told a jury she came outside after getting an alert on her phone and hearing someone shouting.
'To call the police for help, to have them come, to call the police for help,' the woman said.
Milwaukee police arrived soon after. One officer interviewed Morales-Reyes in Spanish, getting a description of the suspect. Morales-Reyes was taken to the hospital where he was treated for a lung abrasion but did not require stitches.
Several hours later, police arrested Scott in the same area. Scott was charged with armed robbery, aggravated battery, second-degree recklessly endangering safety and bail jumping.
Scott told police, and later a jury, that the bicycle was actually his and had been stolen days earlier. He said he was trying to get his property back and that Morales-Reyes had threatened him first, when they were out of view from the Ring doorbell.
'I told the truth,' Scott later said in court. 'I told him that I accidentally cut him.'
At the time of his arrest, Scott had an open warrant for skipping court in a burglary case. He was charged with breaking into his mother's apartment building with two other men and stealing a ladder and other items.
He was booked into Milwaukee County Jail on Sept. 26, 2023, and has remained there since on $10,000 bail.
In handwritten letters to a judge, Scott has offered to plead guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge in the robbery case and misdemeanor theft in the burglary case.
He also wrote a letter dated Aug. 5, 2024, to Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Kristy Yang, saying he would turn her courtroom 'into a circus' with brazen antics he hoped would go viral on social media.
'This case will never make it to a jury trial,' he wrote.
Scott has past criminal convictions that date back to 2000 including battery, disorderly conduct and third-degree sexual assault.
In 2010, Scott was charged with felony murder in the death of Steve Allen, according to previous Journal Sentinel reporting.
Scott was seen punching and kicking Allen, who was lying on the pavement while demanding the return of property, the Journal Sentinel reported. Allen died two days later.
Online court records show Scott was convicted of second-degree recklessly endangering safety in that case and sentenced to five years in prison and five years on extended supervision.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Man charged with threatening Trump in effort to deport victim of robbery