A Milwaukee County jury has delivered a guilty verdict in the extraordinary case of a local man who attempted to silence a witness in his armed robbery case by forging a letter that threatened to assassinate the former President and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Demetric Scott, 52, was found guilty of felony identity theft and witness intimidation after a three-day trial that exposed a calculated plot to have his victim deported.

The victim, 54-year-old Ramón Morales Reyes, a Mexican immigrant, had been slated to testify against Scott in a separate criminal trial. Mr. Morales Reyes had been the victim of a violent armed robbery and aggravated battery by Scott in September 2023, during which he was allegedly stabbed with a box cutter and had his bicycle stolen.

Prosecutors presented compelling evidence showing that while incarcerated and awaiting his robbery trial, Scott concocted what he reportedly described on a recorded jail phone call as a “hell of a plan.” His objective was clear: to prevent Mr. Morales Reyes from appearing in court. Court documents detail how Scott wrote multiple handwritten letters and mailed them to law enforcement officials, including the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office and the Milwaukee ICE Office. The letters contained inflammatory language about immigration and threatened to shoot the President at a rally, using Mr. Morales Reyes’ name and address as the return information.

The scheme briefly worked with shocking speed and severity. Federal immigration authorities, reacting to the high-level threat, arrested Mr. Morales Reyes in May 2025 as he was dropping off his child at school. His arrest quickly became national news, with a high-ranking Department of Homeland Security official even publicizing his photo and an excerpt of the forged letter on social media, touting his capture as a major success in the administration’s immigration crackdown.

The narrative, however, began to unravel immediately. Attorneys for Mr. Morales Reyes pointed out that their client could not have written the “eloquently English-written letter” because he does not read, write, or speak fluent English. Investigators soon confirmed this fact, noting that his actual handwriting was “completely different” from the script on the menacing notes. Further investigation, including reviewing Scott’s jail calls where he discussed the plan, led to his confession that he wrote the letters himself. He admitted his sole intention was to get Mr. Morales Reyes deported and ensure the armed robbery case against him would be dismissed.

The conviction is a significant victory for Mr. Morales Reyes, who was subjected to what his attorney called a second act of victimization, resulting in his wrongful detention and public shaming. While he was eventually granted bond by an immigration judge and released, his ordeal highlights the devastating consequences of targeting crime victims, especially immigrants with pending legal status.

Scott was found guilty of felony witness intimidation and identity theft late last week and was immediately taken into custody. A sentencing date has not yet been announced, but he faces a serious sentence for his brazen attempt to subvert the justice system.