Court records indicate the former Des Moines superintendent who now faces federal gun charges lost his authorization to work in the United States well before he was hired to lead Iowa’s largest school district.
Ian Roberts, who was born in Guyana, has been charged with being an illegal alien in possession of firearms. ATF agents found a loaded pistol, a loaded rifle and a shotgun in a search of his home after his arrest last Friday. A loaded gun was also found in his Des Moines Public Schools vehicle and court records indicate that gun was purchased in Arkansas six years ago, by a woman “believed to be” Roberts’ wife.
Between 2001 and 2018, Roberts submitted four applications to become a legal resident of the U.S., all of which were rejected according to the criminal complaint released yesterday. He had been authorized to work in the U.S. for about four years, but that ended on December 18, 2020. That’s two and half years before Roberts was hired to be superintendent in Des Moines.
The criminal complaint against Roberts contains other details. Roberts renewed his passport from Guyana last year and had it with him when he drove to work last Friday. The Mustang agents found parked in Roberts’ garage is registered to a woman in Texas. The deportation order issued to Roberts in 2024 was in the back seat of the car, under a floor mat.
The Des Moines Register is reporting that shortly after Roberts was hired in 2023, local deputies served Roberts with a restraining order issued by Jackson County, Missouri, which is part of the Kansas City metro. A spokesman for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office told the newspaper a Missouri court had sealed the protective order, so its contents are not public.