Criminal illegal alien who ran school district trying to end case with plea bargain
A criminal illegal alien who worked as superintendent at a large school district in Iowa apparently is trying to end the case against him with a plea bargain.
A report in the Federalist noted a change of plea hearing is scheduled the case involving Ian Roberts for Jan. 22.
He still remains on the schedule for a trial on March 2.
He’s facing charges of possessing firearm as an illegal immigrant and lying on his employment authorization form, where he claimed to be a U.S. citizens when he is not.
The report explained, “Then again, the Guyana native and longtime educrat whom the Des Moines School Board gleefully hired in 2023 has made a lot of claims that have turned out to be false. It seems he’s still making some. Now, Des Moines Public Schools is trying to recover from a nationally embarrassing episode while Roberts writes about ‘redemption’ on his LinkedIn page — from jail.”
The details are not spelled out in court filings yet.
Roberts has claimed his innocence throughout.
But ICE charges he was given a final order of removal in May 2024 and has been in the U.S. since then illegally.
The Federalist has reported that Des Moines public school officials were stunned to hear the allegations in late September that their star superintendent “was not only an illegal immigrant from Guyana, but that he had been in possession of a loaded handgun and $3,000 cash when he was apprehended in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation.”
His history includes a 1996 case where he was charged in New York with possession of narcotics with intent to sell, possessing a forgery instrument and other counts. He also has reckless driving and criminal gun possession counts on his record.
He was arrested in September and at that time was carrying a handgun, a fixed-blade hunting knife and $3,000 in cash.
He quit his school position before the board could fire him.
He’s also accused of lying about his credentials, claiming a doctoral degree he never got.
“The facts have not changed: Ian Andre Roberts, a criminal illegal alien with multiple weapons charges and a drug trafficking charge, should have never been able to work around children,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement to The Federalist. “Under Secretary Noem, ICE will continue to arrest the worst of the worst and put the safety of America’s children FIRST.”
No doctoral degree: Illegal-alien superintendent with criminal background faked his resume