A Milwaukee man reportedly admitted to framing Ramon Morales Reyes, and immigrant who was arrested and is now facing deportation for threatening President Donald Trump.
Demetric Deshawn Scott, 52, was charged with identify theft and felony intimidation of a witness for allegedly sending handwritten threats against the president to multiple law enforcement agencies.
The Wisconsin Attorney General's Office, the Milwaukee Police Chief and the Milwaukee Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office each received letters threatening to kill President Trump or ICE agents. Each of the letters had Morales Reyes' name and return address on the envelopes.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Man facing deportation over Trump threat was victim of a setup, lawyers say
Milwaukee police detectives were able to determine Morales Reyes does not write or fluently speak English. A handwriting sample from Morales Reyes also did not match the handwritten letters.
Before the letters were sent, Morales Reyes was scheduled to testify against Scott for armed robbery and battery.
Watch: Witness intimidation charges filed against Milwaukee man for framing immigrant over Trump threats
Scott has been in the Milwaukee County Jail awaiting a July 14 trial.
Investigators listened to calls Scott made from the jail and found calls asking someone to mail letters for him. In other calls, Scott claimed he would be out of jail by July 15.
"Dude don't come to court then they gonna have to dismiss my case," Scott said on one of the calls.
In a call made after Reyes' arrest, Scott said Morales Reyes, "got what he deserved."
In addition to the witness intimidation and identify theft charges, Scott was also charged with two counts of bail jumping. If convicted on all charges, he could face up to 28 years in prison.
Morales Reyes is being held at the Dodge County Jail with a June 4 appearance date in front of an immigration judge.
This story was originally published by Denise Craig with the Scripps News Group.
