Former head of Iowa school district sentenced to 2 years for falsely claiming to be a US citizen

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The former superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district who was arrested last year in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown was sentenced Friday to two years in prison.

Attorneys for Ian Roberts said they expect he will likely to be deported to his native Guyana in South America once he serves the sentence. He pleaded guilty in January to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen and illegally possessing firearms.

Prosecutors alleged Roberts knowingly lacked employment authorization for nearly all of his two-decade career in urban education and submitted a counterfeit Social Security card when he was hired to lead the Des Moines public school district, which serves 30,000 students.

His September arrest outraged and stunned the Des Moines community as President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign was escalating in cities across the country. Roberts was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024.

Roberts, who appeared in the courtroom Friday with his wrists and feet cuffed, spoke to U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger for nearly a half hour. He pleaded for leniency as he acknowledged that his dedication to teaching thousands of children and his achievements did not “excuse my poor choice, my ethical lapse,” and he said he knew he had disappointed many people, including children.

Roberts wiped away tears as he described a letter he received from a Des Moines second grader.

“I regret what I’ve done every single day,” Roberts said.

His lawyers had proposed that he be put on probation to facilitate his removal from the United States, but prosecutors had argued that his likely deportation should not be a factor. They sought a three-year sentence, at the top end of the sentencing guidelines.

In explaining her decision, Ebinger said Roberts knowingly lied about his citizenship status to earn an “incredible position of trust” and said it was “not an isolated ethical lapse.” While describing the dozens of letters of support that were submitted on his behalf as powerful and mitigating, she said probation was not a sufficient sentence.

Also in the courtroom Friday were Roberts’ wife, friends and colleagues, including Nicole Price, an education consultant with whom Roberts worked for years. Des Moines Public Schools said last month that it revised its conflict-of-interest policy after an audit found Roberts awarded district business to Price’s consulting firm that he worked for, affirming findings first reported by The Associated Press in the weeks after federal immigration officers detained him.

Roberts was in his school-issued vehicle when officers stopped him on Sept. 26 in a targeted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation. He allegedly fled before he was located with the help of state troopers. Authorities said a loaded handgun was wrapped in a towel under the seat and $3,000 in cash was in the car. Three other weapons were recovered during a search of his home.

Attorneys for Roberts said he was denied lawful permanent residency after marrying a U.S. citizen because he had failed to disclose in his application that he had been arrested. He said he did not think he needed to because the charges against him were dropped.

“While Dr. Roberts tried to adjust his status three more times, this initial mistake by Dr. Roberts sealed his fate,” his attorneys wrote in a filing. “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.”

Hannah Fingerhut, The Associated Press