After an Alpha News investigation, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) announced it will now require criminal background checks for “all new hires” and is working to strengthen hiring practices.
Alpha News broke the story of Wilson Tindi, a convicted sex offender and former ICE detainee who was hired into a high-level role within the MDE.
The story gained national attention online with millions of views, thousands of shares, and drew a response from the Department of Homeland Security on X.
On June 27 — the same day Alpha News first questioned MDE about Tindi’s role — he was dismissed from his $145,000-a-year director position.
“MDE has adopted a policy for criminal background checks for all new hires and is in process of developing and adopting further enhancements to hiring and personnel policies,” the agency said in a letter to Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove.
The department added that new safeguards will focus especially on employees with access to student data or sensitive information.
In the letter, MDE also acknowledged the controversy surrounding Tindi, writing it was “deeply disappointed with the roll-out of this new division” and promising to tighten policies moving forward — an apparent reference to the newly created Director of Internal Audit and Advisory Services role Tindi held.
The revelation has sparked outrage on social media, with many asking how background checks weren’t already mandatory for such positions.
Tindi pushes back against scrutiny
In emails sent to Alpha News, Tindi called the news coverage of his sex crime convictions a “travesty.”
He apparently also emailed other outlets. On Monday, KSTP reported receiving similar messages from Tindi. Many appeared to be copy-paste versions of the same content that Alpha News received, including Tindi’s claim of “character assassination.”
Yet in his emails, Tindi did not mention the victim – described as “mentally impaired/helpless” – who woke up to him sexually assaulting her, as stated in court records.
Instead, Tindi focused on how his prior conviction, which according to his view, should have no bearing on his taxpayer-funded employment.
“The premise of your story appears to imply that my prior conviction should have automatically disqualified me from public service,” Tindi wrote.
Tindi rose to a director role in state government even after his felony conviction and placement on Minnesota’s predatory offender registry.
He started in 2018 at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), worked his way up, and then landed a high-level position at the MDE.
Tindi wrote: “I am extremely proud of my nearly seven years of blemish-free public service as an employee of the State of Minnesota… I consistently received positive performance evaluations, leadership trust, and formal recognition — including agency performance awards at MPCA.”
As Alpha News previously reported, court records show Tindi was charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and first-degree burglary after entering a woman’s home and assaulting a woman in bed where she slept. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to the sex assault charge in exchange for prosecutors dropping the first-degree burglary charge.
Tindi was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to register as a predatory offender. His sentence was stayed for five years, but he also served 210 days in the workhouse, records show.
ICE detention and immigration status
Other media reports appear to have overlooked a key fact: Tindi is a Kenyan national who spent more than a year in ICE custody.
Records show ICE detained Tindi for nearly 15 months after his criminal sexual conduct conviction. In 2016, an immigration judge ordered him deported based on his felony sex crime. Tindi appealed and his removal order was overturned in 2018.
In his emails to Alpha News, Tindi insists he is a “lawful permanent resident.” Under federal law, however, Tindi’s felony conviction could make him inadmissible for reentry if he leaves the U.S.
Multiple DWI arrests raise further concerns
Also missing from reports by other media outlets are Tindi’s 2022 and 2025 arrests for suspicion of DWI.
According to a 2022 police report, Tindi was found slumped over in his BMW at a green light in Plymouth, forcing a sheriff’s deputy to knock on his window and shine a flashlight in his eyes to wake him up.
When the car began rolling into the intersection, Tindi appeared disoriented, admitted to drinking earlier that evening, and refused field sobriety tests, the report states.
“Upon being placed in the patrol car, Deputy Preston detected the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from the defendant’s person,” the report continues.
The report also stated that “The defendant refused to provide a fluid sample of any kind, then urinated in Deputy Preston’s patrol car.”
Tindi later challenged the 2022 DWI charge in court and was ultimately convicted of careless driving.
Last month, according to a 2025 police report, police officers in Golden Valley stopped Tindi’s BMW around 2:30 a.m. after spotting it weaving across lanes. Police noted that Tindi smelled of an alcohol beverage, had “bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech,” and struggled to keep his balance.
According to the police report, Tindi refused field sobriety tests and told officers, “Take me to jail.”
In writing about his latest arrest in an email to Alpha News, Tindi said: “I am presumed innocent under the law.”
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
