Immigration and Customs Enforcement said on Tuesday that a former Des Moines, Iowa, school superintendent, who is originally from Guyana, pleaded guilty to federal charges after falsely claiming U.S. citizenship on employment paperwork while working for one of the state’s largest public school districts.
ICE said Ian Andre Roberts pleaded guilty on Jan. 22 following Homeland Security Investigations’s findings that he falsely certified he was a U.S. citizen when he was hired by Des Moines Public Schools in June 2023. ICE said Roberts has never been a U.S. citizen.
ICE-HSI INVESTIGATION LEADS TO GUILTY PLEA FROM FORMER DES MOINES SUPERINTENDENT
Ian Andre Roberts, a criminal illegal alien who was hired by Des Moines Public Schools as a superintendent, pleaded guilty Jan. 22 to federal charges following an investigation led by ICE Homeland… pic.twitter.com/y4QIurfSu1
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) February 4, 2026
Under the plea agreement filed in federal court, Roberts pleaded guilty to two counts, including making a false statement for employment by falsely attesting to U.S. citizenship on a federal I-9 form and being an illegal immigrant in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors agreed not to bring additional federal charges in the Southern District of Iowa related to the same conduct, but no charges were dismissed as part of the deal.
According to the agency, Roberts was arrested on Sept. 26 after an investigation determined that he was unlawfully present in the United States. ICE said Roberts was carrying a loaded handgun in his vehicle at the time of his arrest and had three additional firearms at his home, including a loaded rifle, a loaded pistol, and a shotgun.
Federal law prohibits illegal immigrants from possessing firearms. ICE said Roberts knowingly possessed the weapons despite his immigration status.
The charges carry significant potential penalties. The false-statement count is punishable by up to five years in prison, while the firearm offense carries a maximum sentence of 15 years. The court may impose the sentences consecutively, and Roberts also agreed to the forfeiture of all four firearms seized by federal officers. A judge will determine his sentence at a later date.
Roberts’s guilty plea caps a case that triggered intense scrutiny last fall, when federal officials disclosed that the longtime educator was a Guyana native who overstayed a student visa and was later ordered removed by an immigration judge. ICE officials said he had been living and working in the U.S. illegally while holding a high-profile public job with a six-figure salary.
The Guyana national previously lived and worked in Maryland for years before relocating to Iowa, where he held senior roles in public education and maintained state credentials.
Maryland election officials later released unredacted voter registration records showing that Roberts also claimed to be a U.S. citizen when he registered to vote in Prince George’s County. The documents, disclosed only after conservative watchdog groups threatened legal action, show that Roberts checked “Yes” to the citizenship question on his voter registration application. State election officials have said Roberts never cast a ballot in Maryland, although watchdog groups said the episode exposed weaknesses in Maryland’s system for detecting and removing noncitizens from the voter rolls.
The case has also raised questions about how Roberts was hired in the first place. ICE said he claimed U.S. citizenship on employment forms submitted to the school district under penalty of perjury, allowing him to pass routine hiring checks.
School officials placed Roberts on administrative leave shortly after his arrest, and the Iowa board of educational examiners later revoked his state license after determining he lacked lawful presence in the country. Roberts ultimately resigned from his position as superintendent.
ICE officials have cited the case as an example of weaknesses in employment verification, particularly when employers rely solely on I-9 documentation rather than the federal E-Verify system.
The plea agreement also spells out immigration consequences. Roberts acknowledged that his guilty plea may restrict his ability to challenge deportation and that the firearm conviction qualifies as an aggravated felony under immigration law, exposing him to possible removal from the U.S. following the completion of his sentence.
HOW AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT LANDED AN IOWA SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT JOB
The district has since installed an interim superintendent and said it is reviewing its hiring and compliance procedures as federal authorities continue handling the criminal and immigration consequences stemming from Roberts’s case.
The Washington Examiner contacted an attorney for Roberts.
