23-year-old man who faked his age to rejoin HIGH SCHOOL and had sex with an underage girl, pleads guilty 

  • Artur Samarin, 23, pleaded guilty to a number of fraud and sex charges
  • Charges carry penalties of up to 40 years in prison and $90,000 in fines
  • Samarin also faces federal fraud charges and could be deported   
  • He was accused of 'posing as a high school student in Pennsylvania 
  • Samarin was also accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl 
  • He told the judge that he understood the charges against him

By Valerie Edwards For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 17:49 EST, 8 August 2016 | Updated: 23:30 EST, 8 August 2016

A 23-year-old Ukrainian man accused of faking his name and age while attending a Pennsylvania high school and having sex with an underage girl pleaded guilty Monday.

Artur Samarin entered the plea to a number of fraud and sex charges, which carry penalties of up to 40 years in prison and $90,000 in fines.

He also faces federal fraud charges and could be deported. 

Samarin, who called himself Asher Potts, is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Ukrainian Artur Samarin (pictured), 23, who was accused of faking his name and age while attending a Pennsylvania high school and having sex with an underage girl, pleaded guilty on Monday

Ukrainian Artur Samarin (pictured), 23, who was accused of faking his name and age while attending a Pennsylvania high school and having sex with an underage girl, pleaded guilty on Monday

Samarin (pictured Monday) entered the plea to a number of fraud and sex charges, which carry penalties of up to 40 years in prison and $90,000 in fines

Samarin (pictured Monday) entered the plea to a number of fraud and sex charges, which carry penalties of up to 40 years in prison and $90,000 in fines

The arrest affidavit said Samarin told a detective in February he had sex with the girl in the fall of 2014, when he was 22. 

He had impressed teachers and community leaders while attending John Harris High School in Harrisburg and had been accepted into a college in Florida before authorities concluded he was considerably older and was a Ukrainian citizen who overstayed a student work visa.

Since Samarin has no sentencing deal, it will be up to Dauphin County Judge Deborah Curcillo to choose his punishment during sentencing scheduled for September.

Samarin, thin and pale and dressed in a yellow county prison uniform, said little as he stood before the judge with his lawyer, Adam Klein. 

He told the judge he had been speaking English for more than three years and understood the charges against him.

Klein said Samarin consulted with an immigration attorney before deciding to enter the pleas.

Swatara Township Police Chief Jason Umberger testified that he first met Samarin while volunteering in December 2014 at a 'shop with a cop' event that pairs economically disadvantaged children with police officers to spend $100 buying Christmas presents for the children's families.

Umberger said Samarin expressed interest in the educational citizens' police academy his department runs but was too young to participate. 

Samarin, who called himself Asher Potts, is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl
The arrest affidavit said Samarin told a detective in February he had sex with the girl in the fall of 2014, when he was 22

Samarin (left and right in high school), who called himself Asher Potts, is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl. The arrest affidavit said Samarin told a detective in February he had sex with the girl in the fall of 2014, when he was 22

 told the judge he had been speaking English for more than three years and understood the charges against him. Klein said Samarin consulted with an immigration attorney before deciding to enter the pleas

Samarin told the judge he had been speaking English for more than three years and understood the charges against him. Klein said Samarin consulted with an immigration attorney before deciding to enter the pleas. He's pictured with friends from the high school

When they encountered each other in January at an anti-violence event in Harrisburg, Samarin said he had turned 18 and remained interested, so Umberger sent him an application. 

Umberger told Dauphin County prosecutor Fran Chardo he would not have admitted Samarin to the program if he knew he had given him a fake name and age.

'That would have been dishonest and misleading, and part of our application process is that we admit people who are at least honest about their identity,' the chief said.

Lt Darrell Reider, a detective, told the judge that Samarin apologized for lying in February when he was arrested.

'He said to me... I apologize for that, I know that I disappointed Chief Umberger and I respect him very much,' Reider said.

A search for others named Asher Potts turned up a man named Gabriel Asher Potts in Alabama, who told Reider two days ago that he was victim of credit card fraud from Pennsylvania, Reider said, but authorities have not found any evidence linking him to Samarin.

Earlier this year, Samarin's adoptive parents Stephayne and Michael Potts said he talked about blowing up the school and picked out specific kids he wanted to hurt.

The pair said they contacted the FBI in November 2015 about the threats, months before his true identity was revealed.

 

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