A judge ruled on Tuesday that an undocumented immigrant who prosecutors said was wrongly accused of threatening the president could be released on bond while the government seeks to have him deported.
The man, Ramon Morales Reyes, who worked as a dishwasher at a Milwaukee restaurant, was arrested last month and accused by the Department of Homeland Security of writing a letter threatening to assassinate President Trump. Days later, Wisconsin prosecutors said Mr. Morales Reyes had been framed by another man who had written the letter to get Mr. Morales Reyes arrested by immigration officials before he could testify against him in a robbery trial.
Even after Milwaukee County prosecutors filed identity theft and witness intimidation charges last week against the other man, Demetric D. Scott, a lifelong resident of Wisconsin, the Department of Homeland Security left online a news release accusing Mr. Morales Reyes of making the threats. Mr. Morales Reyes was not charged with any crimes related to the threats, but has remained in jail in the immigration case since May 22.
Supporters of Mr. Morales Reyes, who is from Mexico, called on federal officials to issue a correction to their news release, which included photos of Mr. Morales Reyes and of the threatening letter, handwritten in blue ink. That news release remained online as of Tuesday morning, though Homeland Security officials added a disclaimer to the bottom of the webpage acknowledging that he “is no longer under investigation for threats against the president.”
When Mr. Morales Reyes appeared by video in immigration court on Tuesday, Judge Carla Espinoza said she had found “that the respondent is not currently a danger to the community” and that he could be released on $7,500 bond.
The government has until next month to appeal that decision. A Homeland Security lawyer did not argue against Judge Espinoza’s decision during the hearing. At a previous hearing, the federal government’s lawyer said she believed Mr. Morales Reyes was eligible for bond.
Judge Espinoza, of the federal immigration court in Chicago, said that Mr. Morales Reyes had an arrest record from 1996, but that his only conviction appeared to be for disorderly conduct.
Mr. Morales Reyes, wearing a green jail jumpsuit, appeared by video from a Wisconsin detention center. He answered questions from the judge through a Spanish interpreter.
In a statement, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security, said that while Mr. Morales Reyes was no longer accused of threatening the president, “he is in the country illegally with previous arrests.” The department did not respond directly to questions about whether it planned to appeal his bond.
“The Trump administration is committed to restoring the rule of law and fulfilling the president’s mandate to deport illegal aliens,” Ms. McLaughlin added in her statement. “D.H.S. will continue to fight for the arrest, detention and removal of illegal aliens who have no right to be in this country.”
A lawyer for Mr. Morales Reyes said on Tuesday that the family was pleased by the judge’s decision to grant bond, and that they would post it “as soon as possible.”
“We are hopeful that Ramon can still be released this week. Justice demands that he be allowed to reunite with his family,” the lawyer, Cain W. Oulahan, said in a statement.
Representative Gwen Moore, a Wisconsin Democrat who visited Mr. Morales Reyes in jail on Friday, said Mr. Morales Reyes was “deeply concerned for the safety of his family and the continued circulation of misinformation.” The congresswoman said she was also “struck by how forgiving he is.”
“He said he felt no animus toward the man who robbed and framed him,” Ms. Moore said in a statement.
Mr. Scott and Mr. Morales Reyes had crossed paths before, according to prosecutors. In 2023, Mr. Scott was charged in state court with robbery and accused of slashing Mr. Morales Reyes with a box cutter while taking a bicycle from him. Mr. Scott has pleaded not guilty in that case, and was in jail awaiting a July trial.
According to a detective’s account in court records, Mr. Scott admitted to writing the letters and trying to frame Mr. Morales Reyes. During an initial court appearance last week, Mr. Scott did not speak.
“The defendant stated that he knew that including a threat to President Trump in the letters would mean that Secret Service would have to get involved and law enforcement would definitely go to” Mr. Morales Reyes’s home, the detective wrote.
