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Federal authorities on Friday said the superintendent of Iowa's largest school district had a history of criminal charges before his arrest by immigration agents last week, which shocked the community and prompted the school board to sue the consulting company it hired to vet candidates.

Des Moines Public Schools hired Ian Roberts in 2023 to lead its district of about 30,000 students over two years ago, but federal authorities said the Guyana native was in the U.S. illegally and has not had work authorization for several years. Officials on Friday provided a list of criminal charges in Roberts' record, including drug possession and intent to sell in 1996 and weapons charges in 2020 and 2022.

Roberts pleaded guilty to the 2022 weapons charge — a minor infraction for unlawfully possessing a loaded hunting rifle in a vehicle — and the district was aware of that early on. Federal officials did not specify the outcome of the 1996 or 2020 charges.

Roberts' lawyer, Brandon Brown, emphasized that charges are not convictions, and said federal officials are recycling information they've already released in a “fear-mongering” campaign.

As Des Moines school officials said they sued the consulting company that conducted the superintendent search, the charges on Roberts' record raised questions about how he was hired and licensed in Iowa as well as several other states.

For the Des Moines application, Roberts had to undergo a background check and say whether he was ever charged with a misdemeanor, felony or major traffic violation, such as driving under the influence, according to the job profile in the web archive of JG Consulting, which conducted the search. It is not clear how Roberts responded at the time.

In response to a records request from The Associated Press, district officials said the background check was conducted by a third party and is not a public record.

Iowa's educational examiners board ran criminal history checks at the state level and with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Iowa law and administrative code allows for the denial of a license based on convictions, not charges, Heather Doe, spokesperson for the state education department, said in an email.

Since Roberts' arrest after he ran from a traffic stop, students have walked out of their classrooms in protest. Community members have gathered to pose questions to Roberts’ lawyers, trying to reconcile the vibrant man who engaged with students and staff with the man at the center of a scandal that has grabbed national attention. The Des Moines school board has said it was “a victim of deception” throughout his tenure.

Roberts, who is in federal custody in Des Moines, 

 after the state education board revoked his license. Federal prosecutors 

 with possessing four firearms while in the U.S. illegally, including one authorities said was wrapped in a towel inside a school-issued Jeep Cherokee he was driving when agents pulled him over, according to court filings.

Officials release more details on Roberts' immigration history

The district has said Roberts signed a form when he was hired attesting that he was a U.S. citizen, submitting a Social Security card and a driver’s license as verification. District officials also stated they had no knowledge of an order of removal issued in 2024.

Authorities said a final removal order was issued last year, and an immigration judge denied a motion to reopen Roberts’ immigration case this April. Alfredo Parrish, one of Roberts' attorneys, has said Roberts was under the impression from a prior attorney that his immigration case was “resolved successfully.”

On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Roberts first entered the U.S. in 1994 on a nonimmigrant visa, classified as a “visitor for pleasure." He returned in 1999 on an F-1 student visa, which was set to expire in March 2004. In the interim, officials said he was denied a green card application in 2003.

His next listed interaction with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was in 2018, when he ultimately obtained work authorization. Authorities said his second application for work authorization was approved with an expiration in December 2020.

Roberts was issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge in October 2020, according to the DHS statement.

Officials also listed a 1998 charge for unauthorized use of a vehicle in New York City, which was dismissed the following year.

Also Friday, Des Moines Public Schools said it sued JG Consulting, which it hired in 2022 to facilitate the leadership search. The district’s complaint accused the company of breach of contract and negligence.

School board chair Jackie Norris said the focus is on recouping taxpayer dollars and addressing reputational damage.

“The firm failed its duty to properly vet candidates. Ian Roberts should have never been presented as a finalist,” Norris said. “If we knew what we knew now, he would never have been hired.”

The contract between the district and JG Consulting said the company was responsible for advertising, recruitment, application and resume review, public domain search, complete reference checks and the presentation of qualified candidates. The district said JG Consulting failed to disclose to the board all information, positive or negative.

Josh Romero, an attorney for JG Consulting, said in a statement that Roberts provided the documents necessary to be eligible for the job and that the district had “all relevant information since the beginning,” including a discrepancy in his educational history.

“It should be noted that Mr. Roberts has a record of high-quality leadership and accomplishments in Des Moines and in each of his prior positions in other school districts, in other states,” Romero said. “Any discrepancy regarding his immigration status was not discovered in any prior placements, by any other consulting firm or any other board.”

Roberts, who has two decades of experience in education, used a doctorate title well before earning a doctoral degree from Trident University International in 2021.

 with his application that he earned a doctorate in urban educational leadership from Morgan State University in 2007, according to documents the AP obtained through a records request.

Although Roberts was enrolled in that doctoral program from 2002 to 2007, the school’s public relations office confirmed in an email that he didn’t receive that degree. A background check during the hiring process flagged the discrepancy with the resume, according to the district.

The district said the full school board only saw a resume that was revised to indicate he had not completed his dissertation, which is necessary for the degree. But the board did have access to the background check alerting members to the initial variance.

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Federal authorities have revealed that the superintendent of Iowa's largest school district, Ian Roberts, had a criminal history before his arrest by immigration agents.

Iowa school district sues firm that vetted superintendent as authorities detail his criminal history

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