Ian Roberts, the former Des Moines schools superintendent who was once an educational rising star, will serve two years in prison for his conviction on immigration and gun charges.
The sentence handed down Friday, May 29, in U.S. District Court in Des Moines was a year less than what U.S. Attorney David Waterman requested. Roberts’ attorneys had asked for probation.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger said she had taken into account Roberts’ circumstances growing up in poverty in his native Guyana and the good he has done as an education professional, but also determined that the seriousness of his crimes warranted some prison time.
Roberts also is expected to be deported after serving his sentence.
School district declines to comment on sentencing
Roberts’ arrest and the revelations that followed about his misrepresentations have been tumultuous for Des Moines Public Schools.
Phil Roeder, a schools spokesperson, said in a message to the Des Moines Register following the sentencing that the district “respects the legal process and the court’s jurisdiction in the sentencing of the former superintendent, and will not comment further on this matter.”
Roeder said district officials and staff plan to continue focusing on supporting students, families and staff, particularly as the school year is about to end and preparation begins for the 2026-27 school year.
“We have important work underway throughout DMPS,” he said. “This includes the implementation of Reimagining Education and making community-supported investments in our buildings and programs to create new opportunities for our students for years to come.”
Roberts, who resigned as superintendent after his Sept. 26 arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, pleaded guilty Jan. 22 to federal charges of possessing a firearm as an illegal alien and making a false statement for employment.
Prosecutors alleged that Roberts illegally had four guns, including a loaded handgun left in his district-owned vehicle after he attempted to flee from ICE agents during his arrest, and that he falsely attested he was a U.S. citizen when filling out his I-9 employment authorization to work in Des Moines.
Waterman, in a sentencing memorandum to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, recommended a three-year prison term for Roberts after a presentence investigation report showed he should serve between 30 and 37 months.
The maximum sentence for the offenses was 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines, according to the sentencing recommendation.
Roberts’ defense, led by prominent Des Moines attorney Alfredo Parrish, asserted in a May 22 sentencing brief, unsealed Wednesday, that probation rather than prison time would be appropriate. It said “unique circumstances” should be factored into his sentence, such as the time he already has served, mainly in the Polk County Jail, since his September arrest and the period he will spend in custody awaiting deportation to Guyana.
The 173-page brief provided a lengthy biography of Roberts, saying he was “born into poverty in one of the world’s poorest nations” without “a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding, yet he made an enormous impact in each community he worked.”
What happened to Ian Roberts?
Roberts’ hiring as Des Moines Public Schools superintendent was announced July 1, 2023. He touted his experiences as a former Olympian, representing Guyana in track and field events in the 2000 games, and as superintendent of a school district in Erie, Pennsylvania, as well as holding educational leadership positions elsewhere around the country. He was the first person of color to lead Iowa’s largest, most diverse school district.
“I am a champion for teachers. I am committed to coaching and developing leaders,” Roberts said at a news conference after his selection was announced.
But Des Moines Register investigations since his arrest showed he was a serial prevaricator, claiming achievements and honors he never earned, and that he had been accused of having an affair with a woman who he promoted as a schools contractor in Erie and Des Moines.
The woman’s now ex-husband also accused Roberts of threatening him with a gun when he found Roberts in her bed.
A state audit likewise found Roberts had a conflict of interest, and that two Des Moines schools officials who were aware of it failed to report it to the School Board or other administrators.
Why was Ian Roberts arrested, and why does he face deportation?
According to the defense brief, Roberts had excelled in school in Guyana despite his poverty and his father’s early abandonment of the family, and had launched a successful career as a law enforcement officer. But after a drug investigation brought threats and reprisals, he left for the United States in 1994 on a B-2 tourist visa, was issued a Social Security card, and later enrolled in college in Baltimore, receiving an F-1 student visa in 1999 that expired in 2004.
At the time of his arrest, he had lacked authorization to work in the country since 2020. Roberts’ arrest was the result of a final deportation order an immigration judge in Texas issued in 2024.
Roberts fled federal agents, abandoning his school district-owned vehicle. Upon his arrest, he was found to have a loaded gun, a large amount of cash, and a hunting knife.
Students and staff protested in support of Roberts in the days after his arrest. He resigned as superintendent on Sept. 30.
In the ensuing months, as Roberts’ falsehoods emerged, the Des Moines School Board has sued JG Consulting the search firm that helped the school district find and vet Roberts, accusing it of negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation and breach of contract. The company has countersued, accusing the district of defamation and saying it was the district’s responsibility to confirm Roberts’ citizenship and clearance to work in the U.S.
Staff writer Samantha Hernandez contributed to this article.
Kyle Werner is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ex-Des Moines Superintendent Ian Roberts gets 2-year prison term
Reporting by Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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