The former superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district was sentenced Friday to two years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen and illegally possessing multiple firearms.
Ian Andre Roberts falsely claimed U.S. citizenship on employment paperwork for Des Moines Public Schools in 2023. Roberts is a citizen of Guyana and has never been a U.S. citizen.
While Roberts grew up in Brooklyn, New York, as The Lion previously reported, he competed in the 2000 Olympics as a middle-distance runner for Guyana. He was authorized to work in the United States between July 2018 and February 2020, when he worked as a chief schools officer in California, according to his LinkedIn profile, but continued to work after that.
Roberts was arrested in September 2025. Investigators found a copy of a removal order in his possession, indicating he knowingly remained in the country without legal authorization, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
Authorities also found a loaded Glock pistol in his vehicle and three additional loaded firearms at his home. Federal law generally prohibits people in the country illegally from possessing firearms.
Roberts, who portrayed himself as having a doctorate degree despite reportedly not completing all of the requirements, pleaded guilty in January to one count of false statement for employment and one count of illegal alien in possession of a firearm. He faced up to 20 years in prison but was sentenced to two years.
“By his own admission, Roberts falsely represented himself as a United States citizen in order to obtain positions of public trust and unlawfully possessed multiple firearms,” U.S. Attorney David C. Waterman said in the release. “That conduct undermined the integrity of our public institutions and the legal requirements designed to protect the public.”
He also reportedly registered to vote as a Democrat in Maryland in 2017 and was still on the voter rolls as of late May, three months after his guilty plea.
While awaiting sentencing in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention, Roberts, who earned more than $286,000 annually in Des Moines, wrote a book titled Unshakeable.
“Unshakeable was written over two years and completed while I am in ICE detention – one of the most challenging seasons of my life, but not my first storm,” Roberts wrote on LinkedIn. “It is a collection of truths forged across decades of leadership, grounded in one conviction: Crisis does not define us. It reveals us.”
A post by the popular X account Libs of TikTok about Roberts’ sentence drew strong reactions online. Some commenters called for Roberts to be deported immediately rather than serve a prison sentence.
“Why even let him serve his sentence, just deport his a** besides wasting tax dollars,” one commenter wrote. “We can’t keep slapping immigrants on the wrist.”
“Please explain to me the logic of not deporting now?” another wrote. “Why should taxpayers have to support him for 2 years, and then they’ll use taxpayers’ money again to deport him?”
Other commenters criticized the length of the sentence and questioned whether Roberts should be required to repay money earned while employed.
“2 years? He should pay back his salary with interest!” one commenter wrote.
“Should be more severe,” another wrote. “He took money from taxpayers under false pretense, he should have to pay back his salary and lose any retirement benefits. Children and taxpayers were harmed by his lies.”
Roberts will serve two years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. If he is deported after completing his prison sentence, the supervised release will be nonreporting.
“I commend our law enforcement partners for their professionalism, diligence, and commitment throughout this investigation and prosecution,” Waterman said in the release. “Our office remains committed to enforcing the law fairly, impartially, and without fear or favor.”
(Photo credit: Polk County Sheriff’s Office)
