Wisconsin man allegedly framed for threatening Trump still could face deportation
An undocumented immigrant who authorities say was framed for threatening President Trump is at risk of deportation.
Ramón Morales Reyes, 54, was arrested in May, accused by the Department of Homeland Security of writing a letter threatening to kill the president.
But a Wisconsin man, Demetric Scott, later admitted to framing Morales Reyes, and writing the letter that contained those threats in effort to get him deported.
Scott allegedly stabbed and robbed Morales Reyes in 2023, and Scott allegedly forged the letter threatening President Trump in an effort to prevent Morales Reyes from testifying against him. Morales Reyes had a U visa – a nonimmigrant visa for certain crime victims and their families – at the time of his arrest, and was planning to testify against Scott at his assault trial.
"He could not read or write in Spanish, let alone this very eloquently English-written letter," said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of the Wisconsin chapter of the immigrant rights group Voces De La Frontera.
Scott was charged Monday with felony witness intimidation, identity theft, and two counts of bail jumping. A court commissioner set a $30,000 cash bail for him during his initial court appearance Tuesday and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Tuesday, June 10.
Scott's attorney, listed in online court records as public defender Alexander Kostal, declined comment when reached by phone by the Associated Press on Tuesday, referring questions to the state public defender's headquarters in Madison. The office's legislative liaison, Steve Knudson, declined comment when reached by phone.
Immigration agents arrested Morales Reyes on May 21 after he dropped his child off at school in Milwaukee. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the arrest, saying he had written a letter threatening to kill Trump and would "self-deport" to Mexico. The announcement, which also was posted by the White House on its social media accounts, contained an image of the letter as well as a photo of Morales Reyes, even though investigators already believed at the time that he had been framed.
Morales Reyes, being held in a county jail in Wisconsin, appeared in court virtually in front of an immigration judge in Chicago on Wednesday, and his case was continued until June 10. The judge said she needed more time to review evidence submitted by Morales Reyes' attorney regarding the letter.
"A different individual has now confessed to writing that letter," Morales-Reyes's attorney, Cain Oulahan, told the judge.
Department of Homeland Security attorney Caitlin Corcoran acknowledged Morales Reyes is eligible for a bond while he awaits a final decision on his immigration case.
The judge said she would only be weighing whether Morales Reyes is a danger to the community or a flight risk during his upcoming hearing on June 10.
At his immigration hearing, Corcoran was asked about Morales Reyes' criminal history. She could not confirm he'd been convicted of a crime in 1996. Two incidents, a hit-and-run and a disorderly conduct case, were mentioned in court, but neither Corcoran nor Morales Reyes' lawyers could confirm any convictions.
Corcoran also said she "can't shed any light" on the letters Scott allegedly forged, to which Morales Reyes' attorney said they "should be aware of it" given Noem's social media posts announcing his arrest.
Morales Reyes' attorney said he's been in the U.S. for 20 years. He has three children, all American citizens. Defense attorneys and prosecutors also discussed his criminal record from 1996, details of which they are still trying to confirm.
"He's not a flight risk. He just wants to stay in the country," said CBS News Chicago Legal Analyst Irv Miller, "and he's going to have to testify down the road on two cases — the armed robbery where he was a victim, and the case where there was an obstruction to justice where this guy, Mr. Scott, wrote a letter threatening the life of the President of the United States."
Voces De La Frontera rallied in support of Morales Reyes on Monday morning outside the immigration court in Chicago, calling for his release from custody.
Activists said they're upset Homeland Security posted Morales Reyes' arrest information on social media even after it became apparent he'd been framed, and are asking for due process in this case.
"It's outrageous that DHS would falsely accuse an immigrant for something that he didn't do of such a serious nature; threatening to assassinate the president of the United States. That's a serious charge," said Neumann-Ortiz. "We are continuing to call on DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to issue a public correction. To date, she still has not removed the social media post or the press release falsely accusing him of writing this letter."
The claim against Morales Reyes started to unravel as investigators talked to him and obtained a handwriting sample from him that was different from the handwriting in the letters, according to court documents.
Morales Reyes is listed as a victim in the case involving Scott, who is awaiting trial in Milwaukee County Jail on armed robbery and aggravated battery charges. The trial is scheduled for July.
According to a criminal complaint and an information, another form of a charging document, Scott knocked a man identified by the initials R.M. off his bicycle in Milwaukee in September 2023, cut him with a box cutter and then rode off on R.M.'s bike.
R.M. was taken to a hospital and treated for what the documents called "a small laceration" that did not require stitches. Police arrested Scott a few hours after the alleged robbery. According to the documents, he told investigators that he saw a man riding his bicycle, he wanted it back and he may have struck the man with a corkscrew.
Scott's attorney in the robbery case, Robert Hampton III, didn't return an email seeking comment.
Law enforcement officers listened to several calls Scott made from the jail in which he talked about letters that needed to be mailed and a plan to get someone picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement so Scott's trial could get dismissed, according to the criminal complaint. He also admitted to police that he wrote the letters, documents said.
Morales Reyes works as a dishwasher in Milwaukee, where he lives with his wife and three children. He had recently applied for a U visa, which is for people in the country illegally who become victims of serious crimes, said attorney Kime Abduli, who filed that application.
Abduli told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday that she was glad Morales Reyes was being cleared of any involvement in the letter writing.
His deportation defense lawyer, Cain Oulahan, confirmed Tuesday that Morales Reyes is from Mexico. Oulahan wrote in an email Monday night that the main focus now is to secure Morales Reyes' release from custody and the next step will be to pursue any relief he may qualify for in immigration court.
"While he has a U visa pending, those are unfortunately backlogged for years, so we will be looking at other options to keep him here with his family, which includes his three US citizen children," Oulahan wrote.
