Midwest
Search firm behind illegal immigrant superintendent selection recruits top school leaders nationwide
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The executive search firm that helped Iowa’s largest public school district hire Ian Roberts, an illegal immigrant, has assisted school districts throughout the country in hiring hundreds of superintendents and other educational leaders.
One-Fourth Consulting, which operates under its brand JG Consulting, was sued in the Iowa District Court for Polk County last week by the Des Moines Independent Community School District (DMICSD) for its role in hiring Roberts, who was recently arrested on immigration and weapons charges. The district is suing the executive search firm for breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, general negligence and is also seeking monetary damages.
When reached for comment about the lawsuit, legal counsel for the executive search firm pointed out that JG Consulting, during its decade-long tenure helping schools find new leaders, has placed more than 65 new superintendents and more than 200 other educational executives in school districts across the United States.
SCHOOL CHIEF TO SUSPECT: ICE ARREST OF DES MOINES SUPERINTENDENT EXPOSES FAKE DEGREES, DRUG CONVICTIONS
Former Des Moines Public Schools District Superintendent Ian Roberts (right) was arrested last month after fleeing from federal immigration agents, who subsequently found an illegal handgun in his car. (Des Moines Independent Community School District; Polk County Sheriff)
“In our more than decade-long history of doing this important work, we’ve worked with schools to complete more than 65 searches for school superintendents as well as more than 200 others in executive roles,” JG Consulting’s legal counsel, Josh Romero, told Fox News Digital. “At JG Consulting, we are proud of our extensive record of successfully supporting school districts across the nation in identifying candidates for the position of school superintendent and related executive roles. Educating our young people is a tremendous responsibility and we take very seriously the role we play in that process.”
In addition to JG Consulting’s work with DMICSD, the executive search firm has also helped spearhead candidate search efforts for several other school districts around the country, including in Texas, Virginia and in other districts in Iowa, according to a Fox News Digital analysis of public records.
One of those districts, the Eanes Westlake Innovative School District, which is currently using JG Consulting to find a new superintendent, put out a statement following news of the Roberts arrest to assure its community members that it was committed to “high standards” in its search for a new district head.
“While we are aware of allegations in Iowa, the Board believes JG Consulting is conducting a thorough and comprehensive search for the next Eanes ISD superintendent,” district board president, Kim McMath, said. “As we move forward, the Board will require JG Consulting to provide extensive background information on all candidates who advance for consideration. We are steadfast in our commitment to ensuring this process meets the highest standards.”
EX MICHELLE OBAMA AIDE LEADS DES MOINES SCHOOL BOARD’S DEFENSE OF SUPERINTENDENT ARRESTED BY ICE
Roberts is currently facing federal charges and is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service in Polk County jail, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement from last week. DHS said in its statement that Roberts’ “rap sheet and immigration history reveal a long record of criminal conduct in the United States,” which the agency said proves “he should never have been serving in a role overseeing children in Iowa’s largest school district.”
Ian Roberts, former head of Des Moines Public Schools, has a long criminal history, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday. (Getty Images; ICE)
An immigrant from Guyana, DHS said Roberts first entered the country “classified as a visitor for pleasure” in 1994. The agency said he departed at an unknown date but returned again prior to being arrested on drug charges in 1996. Roberts then re-entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999 and never left.
Subsequently, Roberts filed applications for employment authorizations three times, in 2000, 2018 and 2019, each of which was granted and lasted a year. Roberts did not have a valid worker authorization at the time of his hiring for the Des Moines school district.
During his time in the United States, leading up to last month’s arrest during which Roberts fled, the former superintendent was previously convicted of reckless driving, unsafe operation and speeding in Maryland in 2012, Homeland Security indicated. The agency also indicated Roberts was convicted in Pennsylvania of unlawful possession of a loaded firearm in 2022.
Authorities said a handgun was found in a vehicle used by Ian Roberts to flee from pursuing ICE agents when they tried to detain him last month. (ICE)
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Besides those charges, Roberts also has charges of criminal possession of narcotics with intent to sell, criminal possession of narcotics, criminal possession of a forgery instrument and possession of a forged instrument from New York dating back to 1996 and charges of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and fourth-degree weapon charges from 2020.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, its civil division also served Roberts a sealed restraining order from Jackson County, Missouri, in August 2023. It is unclear what prompted the restraining order since it was sealed.
Meanwhile, there has also been confusion over the degrees that Roberts claimed to have attained on his LinkedIn page. Among several schools listed on his profile, Roberts claimed to have attended Morgan State University from 2003 to 2007 and to have been an “incoming MBA candidate” at MIT Sloane School of Management. Morgan State University confirmed that he attended. However, it said he “did not receive a degree.” The MIT Registrar’s Office said that it “has no record of enrollment for a person with the name Ian Andre Roberts, and similarly, there is no record of enrollment in the MIT Executive MBA program at the MIT Sloan School of Management.”
Despite these charges and his illegal status, Roberts has held several high-ranking roles in public education in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, California, Pennsylvania and Iowa.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The Cleveland Division of Fire was dispatched to a structure fire Monday evening.
According to Cleveland Fire, crews responded to the 3300 block of E 134th Street.
Two adults were transported by Cleveland EMS to MetroHealth in stable condition for evaluation after inhaling smoke.
The fire is currently under investigation, Cleveland Fire said, and the Fire Investigation Unit personnel remain on scene.
The estimated total damage is $85,000 and it also damaged a neighboring home due to radiant heat exposure.
Cleveland Fire said the American Red Cross was requested to assist the five adults and one child displaced from the fire.
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
With just days left in the Illinois legislative session, lawmakers are still debating the megaprojects bill tied to the Chicago Bears’ proposed Arlington Heights stadium while Indiana continues pushing to bring the team across state lines.
MADISON CO., Ind. (WISH) — Surviving members of a highly decorated Vietnam War unit on Monday said group recognition for their service is long overdue.
Company D, 151st Infantry, was an Indiana National Guard unit that deployed to Vietnam at the end of 1968. It was the only National Guard combat unit to deploy as an intact Guard unit during the entire conflict. Unusually for a Guard unit, it had received Airborne and Ranger training. D Company became known as the Indiana Rangers.
Donnie Holland, a member of the unit, said they deployed in five-man teams deep in the jungle, sometimes behind enemy lines. They intercepted supplies and Viet Cong coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail into South Vietnam.
According to the unit’s official history, its soldiers earned more than 500 individual medals during their year-long tour of duty, including 19 Silver Stars, 175 Bronze Stars and 110 Purple Hearts. This was the highest individual medal total within a one-year period of any Army infantry unit. Missing from the Indiana Rangers’ accolades, though, is any recognition of the unit as a whole. Although the state of Indiana welcomed them home, the Indiana Rangers said there is no record of any official military unit award.
It’s an oversight Holland and other surviving Indiana Rangers said they’re trying to fix. He said he and the others are campaigning for a presidential unit citation, the highest unit award. Holland said unit recognition is important in part because it would commemorate the contributions of support personnel who did not see combat but provided critical services such as maintaining the radios they used to call for fire support or extraction.
“We would not have been as successful as we were out in the field if we didn’t have the support we had in the rear,” he said. “Those guys in the rear deserve that recognition the same as us because they helped us stay alive.”
The Vietnam War took a toll on D Company. Of the more than 200 Indiana Rangers deployed to Vietnam, six were killed: Skip Baranowski, Kenneth Cummings, Peter Fegatelli, George Kleiber, Charles Larkins and Robert Smith. Larkins and Smith were the first two Indiana Rangers to die during the tour of duty.
Gary Bussell said the unit was especially close-knit because so many of its men knew each other from back home in Indiana. He said Larkins and Smith exemplified this.
“Smith and Larkins were from the same neighborhood, and they both stood up at each other’s wedding as best man,” he said. “A lot of this is for these guys. Those boys didn’t get to get past 23. I remember times back home, 20 years later, I’d be having a bad day and I just say, don’t worry about it. Larkins and Smith would’ve liked to have had your bad day 20 years later. You knew what car he drove, you knew his wife, you might know his kids’ names. And that was new to Vietnam because most fellows were put in as individual replacements.”
A break appeared to come last week, when Holland and several other Indiana Rangers were invited to the annual Congressional Picnic by Congresswoman Victoria Spartz. Holland said they were able to meet with all of the members of Indiana’s Congressional delegation, which includes one of only two remaining Vietnam War veterans in Congress, Jim Baird. They also were able to meet briefly with President Donald Trump.
During a midday meeting with several surviving Indiana Rangers, staff from Spartz’s office said they have submitted the paperwork for a valorous unit award, the military’s second-highest unit honor. After stopping by to meet with the D Company veterans, Spartz said she is pursuing both a valorous unit award and a presidential unit citation. She said she is working with the Pentagon to find out which is the most appropriate.
“I think we’re on the right track. We have a lot of good ideas of what we need to do. But I think now, we’re in the right place,” she said. “I think the paperwork needs to come from the National Guard and they will try to do, and we just got some stuff they probably need. And they’ll send it to the Department of War and the Pentagon, and hopefully we can get what, you know truly, this is past due.”
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