Ian Roberts, the former superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools, was charged with possessing firearms while being in the United States without legal status, according to a court filing that was unsealed on Thursday.
Dr. Roberts, who had led the city’s school system since 2023, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday and has been held in Iowa jails since. According to the charging document unsealed on Thursday, federal agents found a handgun wrapped in a towel inside the Jeep Cherokee that Dr. Roberts was driving before he was taken into custody.
Immigration officials earlier said that Dr. Roberts, who was born in Guyana, was living and working in this country without authorization and had been ordered deported in 2024. The arrest came as a shock to members of the school board, parents and students in Iowa, some of whom held protests. Dr. Roberts resigned from his post on Tuesday.
Alfredo Parrish, a lawyer who is representing Dr. Roberts, did not respond to a request for comment about the federal weapons charge on Thursday afternoon.
Earlier this week, Mr. Parrish did not directly address whether his client had ever had permission to work in the United States. Mr. Parrish said Dr. Roberts was seeking to have the deportation order against him stayed and was working on a motion to reopen his immigration case.
Seamus Hughes contributed research.
Mitch Smith is a Chicago-based national correspondent for The Times, covering the Midwest and Great Plains.
Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy.
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