Ex-Des Moines Superintendent Pleads Guilty to Lying About US Citizenship

Ian Roberts was denied a U.S. green card four times in 20 years, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Ex-Des Moines Superintendent Pleads Guilty to Lying About US Citizenship
Des Moines schools Superintendent Ian Roberts in September 2025. WOI Local 5 News via AP
|Updated:
0:00

The former superintendent of Iowa’s Des Moines Public School District pleaded guilty on Jan. 22 to falsely claiming that he was a U.S. citizen on a federal form and illegally possessing firearms.

Ian Roberts, who served as the superintendent for Iowa’s largest school district for two years, appeared in court on Thursday wearing a strikingly different outfit than what he wore during his decades-long career as a leader in the educational field.

Jacki Thrapp
Jacki Thrapp
Author
Jacki Thrapp is an Emmy® Award-winning journalist based in Nashville. She previously worked at The New York Post, Fox News Channel and has written a series of Off-Broadway musicals in NYC. Contact her at [email protected]