DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The former superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district is set to learn Friday how long he will be in prison for falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen and illegally possessing firearms. He would serve his sentence before he is likely deported.Ian Roberts, a native of Guyana in South America, pleaded guilty in January to both counts, which together carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. His lawyers are proposing that he be put on probation “to facilitate his removal from the United States,” but federal prosecutors are recommending he serve 37 months – just over three years – in prison, according to court documents.Prosecutors alleged Roberts knowingly lacked employment authorization for nearly all of his two-decade career in urban education and submitted a counterfeit Social Security card when he was hired as superintendent of the Des Moines public school district, which serves 30,000 students.
From Roberts’ Sep. 26 arrest to Friday’s sentencing hearing, the stunning case has bookended the school year. Des Moines Public Schools said last month that it revised its conflict-of-interest policy after an audit found Roberts awarded district business to a consulting firm he worked for, affirming findings first reported by The Associated Press in the weeks after federal immigration officers detained him.
