By HANNAH FINGERHUT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district, who was detained last week by immigration agents, was charged Thursday in federal court with possessing firearms while in the U.S. illegally, prosecutors said.

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Ian Roberts resigned this week as Des Moines’ superintendent of schools, just days after he was pulled over and fled from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who ultimately arrested him with the help of officers from the Iowa State Patrol. When he was arrested, federal agents found a handgun that was wrapped in a towel inside the Jeep Cherokee he was driving, according to court papers.

Roberts, who is originally from Guyana, had been jailed in Sioux City, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Des Moines, since late Friday afternoon. Officials said he was taken into custody on a federal arrest warrant for the weapons charge and appeared by video before a federal magistrate judge.

Roberts’ attorney, Alfredo Parrish, said his client will plead not guilty.

“Our position at this time — he has a presumption of innocence,” Parrish said. “He will exercise his right to indicate to the court, if he is indicted, that he’s not guilty,” Parrish said, adding that there has not been an indictment returned by the grand jury.

Roberts, 54, is alleged to have been in possession of four firearms, according to court documents. Authorities said Roberts had been authorized to work in the U.S. between December 2018 and 2020 but has since “not had lawful employment authorization,” according to the complaint.

Federal authorities said Roberts had a final removal order that was issued last year, and an immigration judge denied a motion to reopen Roberts’ immigration case in April this year. The complaint released Tuesday alleged that Roberts had that final removal order in a different car at his residence.

Roberts had been under the impression from a prior attorney that his immigration case was “resolved successfully,” his attorney has said.

“It has been my pleasure to represent you throughout this process, and I am pleased to report that your case has reached a successful resolution,” Texas attorney Jackeline Gonzalez wrote on March 27.

An aide to Gonzalez confirmed to The Associated Press Tuesday that the law firm had represented Roberts but gave no immediate comment.

Gonzalez spoke earlier this week to federal officials and said the letter she sent had informed Roberts “that the immigration case with Gonzalez’s office was being closed,” according to court papers. Roberts had an unpaid legal bill with her office.

“Gonzalez added that the letter was not intended to convey” that his case with the court had been completed, the court documents said.

Gonzalez declined to tell authorities, however, about her communication with Roberts about the immigration judge’s denial of the motion to reopen his case, which was sent to her office.

This photo provided by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows a loaded handgun found in the vehicle of Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (ICE via AP)

One firearm, the one found under the driver’s seat of his school-issued vehicle when he was arrested, was a pistol believed to have been purchased by Roberts’ wife, authorities said. The other three — a pistol, a rifle and a shotgun — were found during a search of Roberts’ home, the complaint said, and all were allegedly loaded.

The St. Paul Public Housing Agency broke ground with Ramsey County officials Thursday on a project to build 11 new deeply affordable homes as part of a $4.8 million effort expected to be completed by the fall of 2026.

The project, funded by the county and the SPPHA, includes seven townhomes at McDonough Homes and four townhomes at Dunedin Terrace. The homes will be affordable for families earning less than 30% of the area median income.

The agency operates publicly-owned properties and administers housing choice vouchers in St. Paul. McDonough Homes includes 592 apartments originally constructed in 1952, with additions made as recently as 2016. Dunedin Terrace Family Development includes 88 apartments originally constructed in 1966, with renovations made in 1992 and 1999.

The groundbreaking took place at McDonough Homes Community Center near Interstate 35E and Wheelock Parkway.

“These new townhomes further SPPHA’s mission to help families achieve greater stability and self-reliance through housing,” said Louise Seeba, SPPHA executive director, in a statement. “These eleven homes represent the Agency’s final available public housing subsidies. By maximizing our public housing development capacity, we’re ensuring that Saint Paul’s most vulnerable families have access to safe, affordable homes which will ultimately build a stronger, more inclusive community for all.”

Six two-bedroom residences — with one fully accessible with a bedroom and bathroom on the first floor — and one five-bedroom residence will be added to McDonough Homes which is in the North End neighborhood. Four three-bedroom residences with accessible first floors will be added at Dunedin Terrace in the West Side neighborhood. Units will include sprinkler systems, enhanced security and durability features to ensure long-term quality and safety, according to the agency.

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By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the United States that supplies of long-range missiles to Ukraine will seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington but will not change the situation on the battlefield where the Russian army is making slow but steady advances.

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The potential supply of U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv will signal a “qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the U.S.,” Putin said at a forum of foreign policy experts in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The Russian leader noted that even though Tomahawk missiles will inflict damage on Russia if supplied to Ukraine, Russian air defenses will quickly adapt to the new threat. “It will certainly not change the balance of force on the battlefield,” he added, emphasizing that the Russian military is continuously making gains against Ukraine.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Putin’s remarks.

At the same time, Putin hailed U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to help negotiate peace in Ukraine and described their August summit in Alaska as productive.

“It was good that we made an attempt to search for and find possible ways to settle the Ukrainian crisis,” he said, adding that he felt “comfortable” talking to Trump.

While praising Trump and trying to emphasize potential common interests, including nuclear arms control, the Russian president sent a stern warning to Ukraine’s Western allies against trying to seize ships that carry Russian oil to global markers. He argued that would amount to piracy and could trigger a forceful response while sharply destabilizing the global oil market.

Asked about the detention of an oil tanker off France’s Atlantic coast, which President Emmanuel Macron linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of aging tankers of uncertain ownership that are avoiding Western sanctions, Putin cast it as an attempt by Macron to distract public attention from his country’s own internal problems.

He strongly warned the West against such action, arguing that it defies international maritime law and could trigger a forceful response. “The risk of confrontation will seriously increase,” he added.

Putin also scoffed at Western claims of possible Russian involvement in recent drone flights over Denmark, casting them as part of purported NATO efforts to “inflame tensions to boost the defense spending.”

“I won’t do it anymore — to France, Denmark, Copenhagen, Lisbon — wherever they could reach,” he said with a sardonic grin.

Asked about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Putin called it a “heinous crime” that reflected a “deep split” in American society. He hailed Kirk as a hero killed for promoting the same conservative values that Russia shares.

Putin also praised Michael Gloss, an American and the son of a deputy CIA chief, who joined the Russian military and was killed in action in Ukraine in 2024. He said he had awarded Gloss with a medal, which he handed to Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff during his visit to Moscow.

The Russian leader likened Gloss to Kirk, saying they championed similar “traditional” values. “He gave his life while defending those values as a Russian soldier, and Kirk gave his life while fighting for the same values in the United States,” Putin said.

In response to questions about Gloss, the CIA said in a statement that the agency “considers Michael’s passing to be a private family matter — and not a national security issue. The entire CIA family is heartbroken for their loss.”

Associated Press Writer David Klepper in Washington contributed.

After losing most of its tenants and falling behind on property tax payments, the U.S. Bank Center in downtown St. Paul is heading to auction next month, at a starting minimum bid of $1 million.

Outgoing property owner Madison Equities listed the 25-story office tower as 58% occupied in a sales memorandum in May 2024, but that was before U.S. Bank announced its intention last October not to renew its lease on nine floors.

The Bush Foundation, another major tenant, later said it would relocate elsewhere downtown following a lease dispute over a broken elevator.

The U.S. Bank Center’s latest sales offering lists the building’s occupancy rate as 26%.

Mounting debt

Located at 101 E. Fifth St., the prominent office structure was built in 1973 and renovated in 1995. With debt mounting, First Interstate Bank filed suit against Rosemary Kortgard, widow of Madison Equities principal James Crockarell, in Ramsey County District Court last December, citing a breach of their $26.2 million loan agreement from December 2021.

Court records show that as of the time of that legal filing, the company still owed $24.3 million in unpaid principal and interest. The owners also have fallen behind on $1.3 million in delinquent property taxes.

A call to Kelly Hadac, an attorney for Madison Equities, was not returned Thursday.

Auction to be held Nov. 10 to Nov. 12

A court-appointed receiver was placed in charge of the building last February on a limited basis. A judge elevated his role from limited to general receiver in September. The building’s current ownership status remains unclear, and calls to sales representatives with Colliers and an auction administrator were not immediately returned on Thursday.

The auction will be held Nov. 10 to Nov. 12, with a minimum bid of $1 million, according to an online auction listing. A sales memorandum listed about 19 active leases, including some — like the Bush Foundation — that will soon be ending.

The skyway-connected building, situated across the street from the downtown Central Station light rail stop on the Green Line, spans more than 500,000 square feet and includes a fitness center and a 348-stall on-site parking ramp. A two-story section dates to 1942.

The property previously sold in a bank sale in November 2013 for $21 million, and before that for $52.7 million in 2006.

Madison Equities properties

The U.S. Bank Center is one of at least a dozen downtown St. Paul properties owned or recently owned by Madison Equities, which put 10 structures on the market together en masse in April 2024.

Some of those properties have since been lost to foreclosure and bank sales, with occupancy rates running a wide range. Some, like the Park Square Court building by Mears Park, sit boarded and empty.

The U.S. Bank Center links by skyway to four buildings, including the shuttered Alliance Bank Center.

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