Defense says immigration case haunted Ian Roberts, seeks probation

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Before Ian Roberts, a former Baltimore educator, became superintendent of the Millcreek Township School District and then the Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa, he:

• Grew up in poverty in Guyana, in South America.
• Worked as an immigration employee and officer in Guyana.
• Worked as an undercover drug agent in Guyana.
• Traveled to the United States in 1994 to avoid retaliation in Guyana for his undercover work.
• Got a tourist visa in the United States in 1994 but never became a U.S. citizen.
• Roberts over time also got married, divorced and married again, and has six children, most of whom he communicates with “on a semi-regular to regular basis.”

The details of the 55-year-old Roberts’ upbringing and career are included in a 53-page sentencing brief that his lawyers filed in preparation for his May 29 sentencing on immigration and firearms charges in U.S. District Court in Des Moines. The brief was unsealed on May 27.

Roberts, according to the brief, is seeking a sentence of probation — a lesser penalty than the 37 months of incarceration that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Des Moines wants U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger to impose. The advisory federal sentencing guidelines recommend a term of 30 to 37 months.

Roberts and his lawyers are arguing that probation is warranted given Roberts certain deportation to Guyana because of his guilty plea in January to falsely claiming that he was a U.S. citizen.

Roberts made the claim on a federal I-9 employment eligibility form when he applied in 2023 for the top job at the Des Moines Public Schools, the largest public school district in Iowa. He held that post he immediately after he left Millcreek, where he served as superintendent from August 2020 to June 2023.

Roberts, who previously had worked as a teacher, special education coordinator and principal for Baltimore City Public Schools, also pleaded guilty to illegally possessing four firearms as an “illegal alien,” according to court records.

Roberts and his lawyers are also arguing probation is warranted because of Roberts’ past achievements and his work in public education in the U.S. for more than 15 years until his arrest in the immigration case in Des Moines in September.

Defense says ‘educating young people became his passion’

The sentencing brief portrays Roberts as a hard-working striver who decided to dedicate his career to education after surviving his early years in Guyana and going to college in the United States — where he said he obtained a doctorate in education — and running track for Guyana in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

“Educating young people became his passion,” according to the brief, by Des Moines-based lawyer Alfredo Parrish.

“However, Dr. Roberts’ case and life are currently buried in controversy due to his failure to comply with immigration laws. Dr. Roberts significant failure was in not managing his immigration status. Instead of staying focused on his immigration status, he let it lapse and did not obtain his lawful permanent residence.

“Between the time he accepted his job in Des Moines as superintendent and his arrest, Dr. Roberts felt he was hanging by a thread and had no idea what he should do. He faced a dilemma.

“He felt trapped in a life he had built here in the United States. He did not pay close enough attention to reopening his removal proceedings. He compounded his mistakes when he decided to falsely claim he was a U.S. citizen on his I-9 and possess a firearm even though he was not lawfully in the United States.”

U.S. Attorney’s Office, defense at odds over sentence

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, in its sentencing memo, filed May 22, described Roberts as an educational professional “who cultivated a public image grounded in integrity, leadership and authenticity” but who, behind the public image, “engaged in conduct that undermined those values.”

Roberts’ lawyers offered a different characterization in the sentencing brief. Roberts acknowledged his mistakes, according to the brief, but still helped improve the 30,000-student Des Moines Public Schools as its first Black superintendent — the same distinction Roberts achieved at the 6,400-student Millcreek School District, the second-largest public school district in Erie County.

Roberts, according to the brief, “achieved astounding success in the Des Moines Community,” but “even with these successes, there was no escape for the hole he had dug for himself” with his immigration case.

“The ghost haunting Dr. Roberts slammed the door shut with no escape,” according to the brief. It also states:

“Looking at all his foibles, failures and successes while living in a country he came to love, his successes outweigh his failures. If this court engages in a balancing analysis, comparing Dr. Roberts’ contributions to our country as opposed to his failures to comply with our immigration/firearm policies, and applies the proper guidelines … Dr. Roberts should receive a sentence of probation to facilitate his removal from the United States.”

Reporting by Ed Palattella, Erie Times-News / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.