This story was updated at 8:08 p.m. on May 29, 2026.
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Former Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) Superintendent Ian Roberts was sentenced Friday to two years in prison after pleading guilty to federal immigration and weapons charges.
Roberts was the first Black superintendent at DMPS. He led the state’s largest school district from July 2023 until he resigned in October following his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In a plea deal reached with prosecutors, Roberts admitted to lying about being a citizen when he was hired by the school district. He did not have authorization to work in the U.S. at that time. A judge issued an order to remove him from the country in 2024.
He also pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm without legal status in the U.S. Investigators found four guns in Roberts’ car and home after he was arrested, including a loaded handgun in his district-issued car.
Roberts will be credited for the time he's already been incarcerated since his arrest, which his attorney said could be around nine months by the time he's transported. The Guyana-native is expected to be deported to the South American country after he serves his sentence.
Roberts addresses the court
As part of the sentencing hearing, Roberts addressed the courtroom, handcuffed and wearing a green-striped uniform and with a graying beard. He spoke of his experiences growing up impoverished in Guyana and working in law enforcement there. Roberts detailed later attending college in the U.S. and becoming an athlete before finding his passion for education.
“I am pleading with you for leniency, for mercy,” he said.
Roberts called his crimes “an ethical lapse,” acknowledging he had disappointed thousands of children and hundreds of adults who work with them. The former superintendent said he was asking for an “opportunity for redemption.”
“I regret what I’ve done every single day,” he said.
Those in attendance included Roberts’ wife, Lenisha, state Sen. Renee Hardman, D-West Des Moines, and Nicole Price, the owner of an education consulting company that Roberts worked with and had a personal relationship with.
Prosecutor Mckenzie Tubbs also acknowledged Roberts’ “positive contributions” as an educator but said the recommended 37-month sentence was warranted given the “deliberate and sustained nature” of his actions.
According to the sentencing recommendation, three of Roberts’ firearms were purchased by a spouse. And, although he repeatedly sought permanent residence, Roberts was officially authorized to work in the U.S. for just 18 months out of a 15-year career in education that included stops in Washington, D.C., Missouri, Pennsylvania and Iowa.
Tubbs said Roberts made “a choice to exploit the trust of the public.”
Federal District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger said she lowered Roberts’ sentencing to two years due to his engagement with needy communities as an educator and his difficult childhood circumstances growing up in Guyana.
However, Ebinger said, Roberts’ crimes were “not an isolated ethical lapse or administrative error” and pointed out that Roberts knowingly and repeatedly lied about his citizenship to secure employment.
In explaining her sentencing, the judge said his actions led to outrage and confusion among community members, who had believed Roberts to be an upstanding leader.
Ebinger said letters submitted on Roberts’ behalf showed he clearly had a positive impact “despite the deception” and was committed to principles of equity.
As the hearing concluded, Ebinger told Roberts she wishes him the best.
Probation request denied
Roberts’ defense attorney, Alfredo Parrish, unsuccessfully asked for leniency in his sentencing. Parrish argued probation was more appropriate than prison time because Roberts had a positive impact on the schools and students he worked with, and because he was not accused of violent crimes.
“We don’t need an expert to tell us he’s a complex human being,” Parrish said.
Parrish contended that imprisonment, rather than probation, would drain more tax dollars. He also pointed to Roberts' performance as a superintendent as being “on target.”
“He did a bad thing to do good work,” Parrish said.
A court filing included letters from dozens of people who encountered Roberts over the course of his career and have continued to support him. Rev. Jonathan Whitfield of Corinthian Baptist Church in Des Moines asked the court to look beyond the charges. He said students looked up to Roberts.
“Families, colleagues and students alike have experienced his dedication, patience and willingness to serve,” Whitfield wrote. “He has sought to uplift those who may otherwise have been overlooked, helping them believe in their own potential and pursue constructive paths forward.”
Lillie Parker, a retired Des Moines police officer, said the charges against Roberts are serious, but the judge should also consider the impact he had in a short time with the district.
"His mere presence provided a rare and powerful source of hope,” Parker wrote. “As an educated man of color, an author and an Olympic Medalist, Dr. Roberts embodied the tangible possibility of achievement for children who too often lack visible representations of success that mirror their own lived experiences.”
After the sentencing hearing, Parrish said Roberts wants to continue working in education.
“We expect him to continue this work in Guyana,” Parrish said. “We have been in touch with the Guyana Consulate General in New York, and so we're trying to do everything we can to expedite his return to Guyana.”
When his sentence is completed, Roberts will be under the jurisdiction of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, which executes removal orders. Ebinger also granted a request by Roberts’ lawyers to have him placed in another facility to expedite his deportation once his sentence is served.
