President Trump accused Iran of shooting down a US Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz and said the US will respond out of “necessity.” The Pentagon confirmed both pilots were rescued by a US sea drone and are uninjured. Kimberly Halkett reports from the White House.
Published On 9 Jun 20269 Jun 2026
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DES MOINES, Iowa — The former superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district who was arrested last year in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown was sentenced Friday to two years in prison.
Ian Roberts is likely to be deported to his native Guyana in South America once he serves the sentence. He pleaded guilty in January to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen and illegally possessing firearms, which together carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. His lawyers had proposed that he be put on probation “to facilitate his removal from the United States,” but prosecutors had argued that his likely deportation should not be a factor.
Prosecutors alleged Roberts knowingly lacked employment authorization for nearly all of his two-decade career in urban education and submitted a counterfeit Social Security card when he was hired as superintendent of the Des Moines public school district, which serves 30,000 students.
Roberts’ stunning case bookended the school year. His September arrest occurred as President Trump’s administration was sending increased numbers of federal immigration officers into American cities to round up immigrants.
Des Moines Public Schools said last month that it revised its conflict-of-interest policy after an audit found Roberts awarded district business to a consulting firm he worked for, affirming findings first reported by the Associated Press in the weeks after federal immigration officers detained him.
Roberts was in his school-issued vehicle when officers stopped him on Sept. 26 in a targeted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation. He allegedly fled before he was located with the help of state troopers. Authorities said a loaded handgun was wrapped in a towel under the seat and $3,000 in cash was in the car. Three other weapons were recovered during a search of his home.
In a court filing, attorneys for Roberts said he has dedicated his life in the U.S. to public service and has not been a threat to public safety. After Roberts married a U.S. citizen, his attorneys said, he was denied lawful permanent residency because he failed to disclose that he had been arrested. He said he did not think he needed to because the charges against him were dropped.
“While Dr. Roberts tried to adjust his status three more times, this initial mistake by Dr. Roberts sealed his fate,” his attorneys wrote. “In the background of his career for the next 24 years, this denial of his adjustment of status haunted Dr. Roberts like a ghost, eventually derailing his life and career.”
Dozens of people submitted letters on Roberts’ behalf to dispute how he has been portrayed and provide details of his positive impact. His lawyers wrote that he likely faces deportation to Guyana, where he will “be left without his career, without his wife, without his children, in a country where he has not lived for thirty years.”
In recommending a three-year sentence, prosecutors described a yearslong and deliberate misrepresentation of his legal status. Prosecutors said a reduced sentence is not appropriate just because Roberts is likely to be deported.
They said they do not know what documents Roberts presented to show eligibility for work dating back to 2008, years before he was approved for temporary status in 2018, but he “deliberately obtained employment without work authorization at school after school, within state after state.”
Fingerhut writes for the Associated Press.
LOUISE Thompson is locked in a new feud with Alex Cooper after claiming the Call Her Daddy star stole her podcast name.
The former Made in Chelsea star, 36, posted a TikTok video as she began: “I don’t know how well this is going to land but I’m going to say it anyway because I’m feeling like a big, brave dog.
“I was just on Instagram, I shouldn’t be doom scrolling on my way home, and I saw a Bloomberg business post that is essentially a takedown of Unwell, which is the podcast production company set up by Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper and her husband.
“So there have been claims they’ve been treating staff badly, they have been shouting, they’ve been disrespecting people and obviously there’s been this very public feud that Alex Cooper has had with Alix Earle.
“I’m just gonna say something, karma is a b***h. Here’s a little story that none of you guys know, so I had a meeting when I was peak unwellness shall I say, a couple of years ago with an exec that come from the US who worked with a big talent agency about doing a podcast with us.”
Louise admitted that she wasn’t mentally in the right frame of mind during the meeting but she did suggest the name ‘Unwell’.
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“I thought it would be a really clever play on what I’ve been through to call this new business and this new project or podcast venture, Unwell or Unwellness. I have it written in my list of notes that I wrote years ago when I was recovering early doors.
“Then I noticed four or five months later, she announces that her entire podcast thing is going to be called Unwellness and I think it’s just a little bit too suspicious that we both had exactly the same name idea, especially given that I had the conversation with people who a part of her overall management team.
“What are they saying? Copying is the highest form of flattery,” Louise concluded.
She wrote over the video: “Alex cooper nicked my brand name… and karma exists.”
The mum-of-one captioned it: “Never thought I’d share this, but in the interest of being honest… this happened and in the words of carrie Bradshaw…. I can’t help but wonder.
“Sometimes I hate how dog eat dog this industry is… but stealing names isn’t cool.”
Alex, 31, founded her Unwell network in 2023, which has extended into wellness with Unwell Hydration and the Unwell Creative Agency last year.
Louise has faced a number of health issues since the traumatic birth of her son Leo in 2021, which has culminated in her living with a stoma bag due to chronic ulcerative colitis.
She launched her own podcast, He Said, She Said, with her partner Ryan Libbey in late 2024, before joining Staying Relevant Productions this year, which is owned by her brother Sam Thompson and Pete Wicks.
The Sun have contacted Alex’s representatives for a comment.
