Ramon Morales-Reyes was arrested for allegedly threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump—but newly released court documents indicate he was the target of a calculated setup by a fellow inmate who has since confessed to writing the threatening letter himself.
In an apparent attempt to prevent damaging testimony from a Mexican national, a U.S. prisoner orchestrated a scheme to have Morales-Reyes, an undocumented immigrant, deported. The inmate penned a letter in Morales-Reyes’s name, claiming intent to kill the U.S. president.
Despite access to advanced intelligence resources, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem reportedly fell for the ruse, triggering a political uproar. She publicly denounced the case, using it as evidence to portray undocumented immigrants as dangerous criminals.
According to court filings submitted Monday in Wisconsin, the plot was the work of another inmate—Demetric Deshawn Scott, 52—who admitted to authoring both the threatening letters and the envelopes that contained them. His stated goal was to remove Morales-Reyes, 54, from the country before he could testify in an upcoming trial. “The defendant admitted he wrote everything himself, without anyone’s help,” the ABC News report reads. During questioning, Scott allegedly told investigators he acted out of a desire for “freedom.”
The case drew national attention last week after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Morales-Reyes’s arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), citing threats made against President Trump.
DHS claimed Morales-Reyes was living illegally in the U.S. and had written a letter vowing to “shoot and kill Trump at one of his rallies.”
However, sources cited by ABC News say Morales-Reyes was framed by Scott, who was already facing charges of theft and assault. Scott reportedly devised the scheme to have Morales-Reyes removed before he could testify. Prison phone records reveal Scott bragged about having a “foolproof plan.”
During a hearing, Morales-Reyes identified Scott as the only person with a motive to falsely implicate him. Handwriting analysis later confirmed that Morales-Reyes’s writing did not match that found in the letters.
Authorities also searched Scott’s cell and recovered the blue pen used to write the threats. He allegedly told investigators that he mentioned Trump by name in the letters specifically to draw the attention of the U.S. Secret Service.
Despite Scott’s confession, DHS continues to hold Morales-Reyes in custody and maintains that his immigration status remains unlawful. “The threat investigation is still ongoing,” the agency said in an official statement.
Scott now faces additional charges, including identity theft, witness intimidation in a criminal case, and violating the terms of his pretrial release.
Primary Source: ABC News, reporting by Luke Barr, June 3, 2025.
