At the time of Ian Andre Roberts' (pictured above) recent arrest, the native of Guyana was working as the Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools.
He was hired "despite being an illegal alien with a final order of removal and no work authorization" after the superintendent before him, Dr. Thomas Ahart, resigned in 2022.
He filled out paperwork claiming that he was a U.S. citizen and provided a driver's license and Social Security card, affirming "under penalty of perjury" that he was a U.S. citizen with a doctoral degree from Morgan State University.
Authorities say Roberts tried to evade arrest last month, and according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) press release, he had prior weapons charges and was found "in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash, and a fixed blade hunting knife."
Roberts was placed on unpaid leave and later resigned.
Despite the facts against him, some maintain Roberts was treated unfairly. There are individuals in the district who liked him as superintendent, including students who walked out of classes to protest that he was picked up by ICE.
Jackie Norris (D), chair of the Des Moines School Board who is also running as for the U.S. Senate in Iowa, says JG Consulting, the firm that vetted him, "failed its duty."
She called Roberts "an effective and well-respected leader," but recently stated that he "should have never been presented as a finalist" for the job.
Attorney and broadcaster Jeff Stein is not surprised to see that the school district is suing the consulting company.
"If, in fact, the consultants did not properly vet the candidate, they might have a cause of action," he notes, "but there were so many other questions that came up. They asked a few questions about some red flags. They were very willing to believe the stories that they got because they really wanted to hire a person who checked a number of boxes, and this is the result of that."
Stein says the contract between the school district and the consultant likely gives the latter "a fair amount of wiggle room" on certain things. If a candidate is engaged in nearly iron clad deception, then the consultant cannot be expected to find absolutely everything. The client has to do its due diligence.
When people get their taxes prepared by a professional, for example, there is a disclaimer where the preparer says he or she is not responsible for certain things if the filer did not give them the correct information.
Likewise, he suspects JG Consulting's contract gives them a way out when all it did was deliver the candidate the school district had in mind for the job.
"The school board cannot absolve itself of liability by saying that the resume didn't check out and it's the consultant's fault," Stein summarizes. "They're trying to blame somebody, but they have plenty of blame themselves."
He also thinks Des Moines will have a difficult time finding a new superintendent to come in and clean up a situation not of their own making.
The U.S. and Iowa Departments of Education are investigating, and state Senator Dave Sires (R-Cedra Falls) has called for the State Department of Education to take over the school district. The U.S. Department of Justice also plans to investigate the district’s hiring practices.
"Anyone who is looking at this is probably going to look twice and perhaps three times before actually signing a contract," Stein predicts.
