Accused armed robber charged with setting up victim to be deported before trial

MILWAUKEE (CN) — A Milwaukee man was charged with four felonies on Monday for framing an undocumented immigrant for acts of terror in order to prevent him from testifying about an armed robbery. Although police quickly unraveled the scheme, the victim may still be deported.

Demetric Scott is scheduled to stand trial next month in Milwaukee County for the armed robbery of Ramon Morales-Reyes, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. While in jail, Scott hatched “a hell of a plan” to prevent his victim from testifying, according to the state’s complaint.

Scott is said to have sent letters containing threats to President Donald Trump and other law enforcement officers to the Wisconsin Attorney General, the Milwaukee Police Chief and the Milwaukee Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office. The envelopes had Morales-Reyes’ return address, leading to ICE arresting him for suspected terrorism.

Agents quickly realized that Morales-Reyes couldn’t have authored the letters, as he cannot write in or speak English. Milwaukee Police began an investigation into who forged the letters while Morales-Reyes was transported to the Dodge Detention Facility to await a hearing on his illegal entry into the country.

On Sunday, Scott confessed to framing Morales-Reyes in an attempt to have him deported so that he could not testify in the armed robbery trial. Scott was charged on Monday in Milwaukee County with identity theft, witness intimidation and two counts of bail jumping.

According to the complaint, Scott had been plotting for weeks to prevent Morales-Reyes from appearing in court. He made several calls to his mother and an accomplice asking for the address of the attorney general and for them to mail the letters for him. The state claims in the complaint that Scott even spelled it out in one call: “This dude is a goddamn illegal immigrant and they just need to pick his ass up … If he gets picked up by ICE, there won’t be a jury trial … That’s my plan.”

Morales-Reyes, 54, has been living in the U.S. for 20 years and had previously entered the country illegally “at least nine times”, according to a statement from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“Thanks to our ICE officers, this illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump is behind bars,” Noem said. “All politicians and members of the media should take notice of these repeated attempts on President Trump’s life and tone down their rhetoric.”

Morales-Reyes and his family have been receiving death threats since his arrest, according to a statement from the Milwaukee Common Council.

“Their quick triggered incorrect statement caused a man and his family to receive death threats and for him to be detained for something he did not do, while further fueling the anti-immigrant sentiment being pushed at the national level,” the 15-member council said in a joint statement. “All things that undermine what should be the department’s chief priority of promoting public safety.”

Police executed a search warrant of Scott’s cell on May 30 and found a blue ink pen and paper matching the letters, as well as a note stating that he needed to find the address for the attorney general, according to law enforcement.

During an interview with Milwaukee Police Detective Timothy Keller, Scott said he had no intention to go after Trump, but that he knew that the threats would involve Secret Service and law enforcement would quickly detain Morales-Reyes.

After the interview, Keller says in the complaint that Scott called his mother to gloat.

“Out of all the time I’ve been in here, 19 months, his ass got was he deserve. He got deported the way he should’ve because he wasn’t supposed to be here anyway, so he can take his ass back to Mexico" Scott said.

Morales-Reyes will face an immigration judge on June 4 and faces possible deportation.

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