DES MOINES, Iowa — A former school district leader in Iowa’s most populous district will discover Friday the length of his prison term for making false citizenship claims and unlawfully having weapons. His incarceration would precede expected deportation proceedings.
Ian Roberts, who hails from the South American nation of Guyana, entered guilty pleas in January to both charges, which could result in up to 20 years behind bars. Defense attorneys are requesting probation “to facilitate his removal from the United States,” while federal prosecutors seek a 37-month prison term — slightly more than three years — based on court filings.
Federal authorities accused Roberts of knowingly working without proper employment authorization throughout nearly his entire 20-year tenure in city school systems and providing a fake Social Security card when hired to lead the Des Moines public schools, an organization educating 30,000 students.
The remarkable case has spanned the academic year from Roberts’ September 26 arrest through Friday’s sentencing proceedings. Des Moines Public Schools announced last month it updated its conflict-of-interest guidelines following an audit that revealed Roberts directed district contracts to a consulting company where he had employment ties, confirming earlier Associated Press reporting from weeks after immigration authorities apprehended him.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers targeted Roberts and conducted a traffic stop while he drove his district-provided Jeep Cherokee. Officials say he attempted to escape before state troopers helped locate him. Law enforcement discovered a loaded firearm wrapped in cloth beneath the vehicle’s seat along with $3,000 in currency. Investigators found three additional weapons when searching his residence.
Defense lawyers stated in court papers that Roberts devoted his American life to serving the public and, while he failed to follow federal regulations, posed no danger to community safety. Following Roberts’ marriage to an American citizen, his legal team explained, immigration officials rejected his application for permanent residency because he hadn’t revealed a previous arrest. Roberts claimed he believed disclosure wasn’t necessary since prosecutors had dismissed those charges.
“While Dr. Roberts tried to adjust his status three more times, this initial mistake by Dr. Roberts sealed his fate,” his attorneys wrote. “In the background of his career for the next 24 years, this denial of his adjustment of status haunted Dr. Roberts like a ghost, eventually derailing his life and career.”
Numerous individuals wrote character references supporting Roberts to challenge his public portrayal and highlight his positive contributions. His defense team emphasized he likely faces removal to Guyana, where he will “be left without his career, without his wife, without his children, in a country where he has not lived for thirty years,” they wrote. “While it is the correct outcome, it is also going to already be incredibly harsh on Dr. Roberts.”
Federal prosecutors stated Roberts “placed his self-interest above the law and the duty he owed the public he served.” In seeking the three-year term, prosecutors outlined years of intentional misrepresentation regarding his immigration status. They indicated uncertainty about which documents Roberts used to demonstrate work eligibility from 2008 onward, years before receiving temporary authorization in 2018, but noted he “deliberately obtained employment without work authorization at school after school, within state after state” while aware of his unlawful presence.
Prosecutors maintained this history should influence the judge’s sentencing decision, arguing that potential deportation alone doesn’t justify a lighter punishment.
Roberts “cultivated a public image grounded in integrity, leadership, and authenticity,” prosecutors wrote. Yet, he “engaged in conduct that undermined those values.”
