U.S. prosecutors seek 37-month term for Guyana-born former Des Moines schools chief

U.S. prosecutors are asking a federal judge to send Ian A. Roberts, the Guyana-born former head of Iowa’s biggest public school system, to prison for as long as 37 months after he admitted offences involving his immigration status and gun possession.

Roberts, who had been seen as an emerging leader in U.S. education, pleaded guilty in January to falsely stating that he was a U.S. citizen so he could obtain the superintendent’s post at Des Moines Public Schools in 2023. He also admitted to unlawfully having four firearms while being an undocumented immigrant.

In a sentencing filing submitted Friday, May 22, and reported by the Des Moines Register, U.S. Attorney David Waterman said Roberts “betrayed the public’s trust” and urged the court to impose the top sentence recommended by federal guidelines. A presentence report placed the advisory prison range at 30 to 37 months.

The prosecution opposed any lighter penalty, pointing out that Roberts is expected to be removed to Guyana after his sentence is completed. “Imposing a lesser sentence based on post-sentence immigration consequences fails to capture the sentencing aim of deterring future criminal conduct,” Waterman wrote.

Federal law allows a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison and total fines of US$500,000 for the offences. The matter has attracted strong interest in Iowa and in Guyana, where Roberts had been recognised for moving from a Georgetown athlete to the leader of a major American school district.

Prosecutors said Roberts worked in education for more than 15 years in several U.S. states, even though he allegedly lacked legal authorisation to work for most of that period. “The defendant cultivated a public image grounded in integrity, leadership and authenticity,” Waterman wrote. “Yet behind that public image, he engaged in conduct that undermined those values.”

The government’s filing said Roberts was legally permitted to work in the United States for only about 18 months of his 15-year education career. Court documents also accused him of having fake identification papers and obtaining guns unlawfully through other people.

Authorities said that when Roberts was arrested, officers found a loaded gun with 13 rounds under the driver’s seat of his vehicle, an extended magazine, about US$3,000 in cash, his Guyanese passport, a counterfeit Social Security card, and an expired employment authorisation card. Investigators later searched his home and reportedly found more loaded weapons, including a pistol, rifle and shotgun, along with about 300 rounds of ammunition.

Waterman told the court that the amount of ammunition and the use of third parties to buy firearms made the conduct more serious.

Defence lawyer Alfredo Parrish previously said Roberts thought he was allowed to live and work in the United States because of advice he received from a Texas immigration attorney. Parrish referred to a March 2025 letter from immigration lawyer Jackeline Gonzalez saying Roberts’ immigration case had been closed, which the defence said led him to believe he had lawful status.

The defence also said Roberts’ past as a police officer in Guyana and fears about his personal safety helped explain why he had firearms. “He wanted to accept responsibility, and that’s what he did,” Parrish said after Roberts pleaded guilty.

Roberts’ case became public in September 2025, when the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners cancelled his professional administrator’s licence after his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The board told him that because he no longer had lawful status in the United States, his superintendent credentials were void at once.

ICE said Roberts had been subject to a final removal order since May 2024 and was detained on September 26 during what authorities called a targeted enforcement action. After the arrest, the Des Moines School Board voted unanimously to put him on unpaid administrative leave.

His administrator’s licence, which had been valid through December 2028, was ended immediately. Roberts is due to be sentenced in federal court on May 29. According to the Des Moines Register, prosecutors said a sentence equal to time already served, about eight months, “would not reflect the seriousness of his conduct.”