Ian Roberts, an illegal immigrant who fooled school systems across the country into hiring him, was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for lying about his citizenship and possessing guns.
He faces deportation back to Guyana after his sentence.
Roberts, who had been ordered deported, had been serving as superintendent of public schools in Des Moines, Iowa, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers caught up with him last fall.
They attempted a vehicle stop, and Roberts fled from his school-issued vehicle. Officers chased him down and found a loaded pistol in his vehicle.
“I regret what I’ve done every single day,” Roberts told Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger.
She said Roberts abused his “position of trust,” which demanded he serve prison time.
Roberts had asked for a sentence of probation, citing his long service in schools and the positive impact many of his students and their parents cited.
He was a former Olympian, running for Guyana.
And he made a practice of scheduling foot races with his students.
He was in the U.S. as a student but then lost that status nearly two decades ago. Between 2008 and 2018, he lacked status and work authorization.
He briefly got authorization, from 2018 to 2020, while an application for a green card was pending. But he was back out of status when he was hired by Des Moines.
He had also been hired as a principal in schools in Maryland and the District of Columbia, and as an administrator and superintendent in Pennsylvania, Missouri and California — despite lacking legal status in nearly all of those instances.
The Pennsylvania and Iowa school systems — the last two on his resume — both blamed outside contractors for failing to spot his unlawful status.
As an illegal immigrant, he was also forbidden from possessing guns, yet he had a small arsenal.
In the vehicle when he was arrested last year, he had a loaded Glock 19 pistol, an extended magazine loaded with 29 more rounds, $3,000 in cash, his Guyanese passport, a bogus Social Security card and a copy of his May 2025 order of deportation issued by an immigration judge.
He had three other weapons at home — a Sig Sauer P320 pistol, a Remington bolt-action rifle and a Remington shotgun, along with plenty of ammunition — none of which he was supposed to possess, given his lack of legal status.
He faces deportation back to Guyana after his sentence.
Roberts, who had been ordered deported, had been serving as superintendent of public schools in Des Moines, Iowa, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers caught up with him last fall.
They attempted a vehicle stop, and Roberts fled from his school-issued vehicle. Officers chased him down and found a loaded pistol in his vehicle.
“I regret what I’ve done every single day,” Roberts told Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger.
She said Roberts abused his “position of trust,” which demanded he serve prison time.
Roberts had asked for a sentence of probation, citing his long service in schools and the positive impact many of his students and their parents cited.
He was a former Olympian, running for Guyana.
And he made a practice of scheduling foot races with his students.
He was in the U.S. as a student but then lost that status nearly two decades ago. Between 2008 and 2018, he lacked status and work authorization.
He briefly got authorization, from 2018 to 2020, while an application for a green card was pending. But he was back out of status when he was hired by Des Moines.
He had also been hired as a principal in schools in Maryland and the District of Columbia, and as an administrator and superintendent in Pennsylvania, Missouri and California — despite lacking legal status in nearly all of those instances.
The Pennsylvania and Iowa school systems — the last two on his resume — both blamed outside contractors for failing to spot his unlawful status.
As an illegal immigrant, he was also forbidden from possessing guns, yet he had a small arsenal.
In the vehicle when he was arrested last year, he had a loaded Glock 19 pistol, an extended magazine loaded with 29 more rounds, $3,000 in cash, his Guyanese passport, a bogus Social Security card and a copy of his May 2025 order of deportation issued by an immigration judge.
He had three other weapons at home — a Sig Sauer P320 pistol, a Remington bolt-action rifle and a Remington shotgun, along with plenty of ammunition — none of which he was supposed to possess, given his lack of legal status.
