Ex-Iowa Superintendent To Plead Guilty For Citizenship Fraud | EUROtoday

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The former superintendent of Iowa’s largest college district is predicted to plead responsible Thursday in federal court docket to costs that he falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen and illegally possessed firearms, a plea settlement exhibits.

Ian Roberts had a two-decade lengthy profession as an educator and faculty administrator in districts throughout the U.S. earlier than changing into superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, a district of 30,000 children the place he was beloved for his charismatic and exuberant management model.

Just weeks into the varsity 12 months, Roberts’ Sep. 26 arrest in a focused U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation shocked neighborhood members and attracted nationwide consideration.

A local of Guyana in South America, Roberts initially pleaded not responsible to the 2 costs, which collectively carry a most sentence of 20 years in jail. Roberts is predicted to plead responsible to each costs, in response to a plea settlement signed by Roberts and launched Wednesday.

The plea settlement additionally signifies that Roberts is conscious he may face deportation after he serves his sentence.

Roberts was pulled over in his school-issued Jeep Cherokee and allegedly fled from federal brokers, who discovered the automotive deserted close to a wooded space and situated Roberts with the assistance of state troopers. Authorities mentioned they discovered a loaded handgun wrapped in a towel underneath the seat and $3,000 in money within the automotive.

A federal grand jury in October returned a two-count indictment. According to the settlement, Roberts made a “false attestation” on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Eligibility Verification kind, referred to as an I-9, that he submitted in Des Moines, claiming he was a U.S. citizen although authorities say he knew he lacked authorization. That carries a punishment of as much as 5 years in jail and a positive.

Roberts accomplished the I-9 kind when he was employed in 2023 and submitted a Social Security card and driver’s license as verifying paperwork, in response to the district. He additionally acknowledged he was a U.S. citizen in his software to the state board of academic examiners, which issued Roberts an expert administrator license in 2023.

Federal officers mentioned Roberts first entered the U.S. in 1994 on a nonimmigrant visa. They mentioned he returned in 1999 on an F-1 pupil visa, which was set to run out in March 2004. He was denied a inexperienced card software in 2003, in response to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

His subsequent listed interplay with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was in 2018, when he in the end obtained work authorization. Authorities mentioned his second software for work authorization was accepted, expiring in December 2020, and that he has not had work authorization since then.

Roberts was topic to a discover to seem earlier than an immigration decide in October 2020 and a closing elimination order in 2024, authorities mentioned. District officers mentioned they weren’t conscious of the immigration points.

Alfredo Parrish, one in every of Roberts’ attorneys, has mentioned his shopper was underneath the impression from a previous lawyer that his immigration case was “resolved successfully.”

Parrish didn’t return cellphone and e-mail messages Wednesday concerning the change-of-plea listening to.

Roberts additionally faces a federal weapons cost, punishable by as much as 15 years in jail and a positive. The indictment describes two pistols, a rifle and a shotgun present in Roberts’ possession. In addition to the one in his car when he was arrested, three firearms have been discovered throughout a search of Roberts’ dwelling, authorities mentioned.

Roberts will comply with forfeit the weapons, in response to the settlement.

The listening to was scheduled after Roberts’ attorneys mentioned in a court docket submitting that that they had been negotiating with federal prosecutors to succeed in a decision forward of a Jan. 28 deadline. As a part of Roberts’ plea settlement, federal prosecutors mentioned they might suggest some leniency however that the sentence is in the end as much as the decide.

Roberts waived his proper to be current at his arraignment in October, when he pleaded not responsible. A trial had been scheduled to start in early March.