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.

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“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.”

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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.”

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.

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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.