A Pennsylvania high school honors student just months from graduation was actually a 23-year-old Ukrainian national using a false identity after his visa expired, police said Thursday.
Artur Samarin, who used the alias Asher Potts, was arrested and charged Tuesday in Harrisburg, the capital city, police said.
Samarin is accused of masquerading as a Harrisburg High School student who was a member of the National Honor Society. Samarin was actively involved at the school, working with a student advisory group on a food bank, and he was a member of the school’s ROTC and Naval Sea Cadet programs.
He had a Pennsylvania driver’s license in Potts’ name when he was arrested, Police believe that identity was fabricated and no one’s identity was compromised.
Sgt. Terry Wealand said Thursday that police got a tip about Samarin about two months ago.
Authorities believe he was in the country for about four years, he said. Samarin enrolled at the high school as a freshman and was less than four months from graduation.
Wealand said he arrived on a temporary visa for a short stay, and he came to the U.S. under his original name. It wasn’t clear if Samarin was in Harrisburg the entire time.
He apparently lived with people he befriended, Wealand said. Authorities are investigating whether anyone else conspired with Samarin on creating or maintaining his fake identity.
“I would think there would have to be someone who knew,” Wealand said. “And if there is, they are going to pay, too.”
Marcel McCaskill knew Samarin from a seven-week math and science program the two were selected to participate in at Penn State. He and Samarin were in a group together and did a presentation on cosmic rays and detecting radiation in the summer of 2013.
“It’s totally mind-blowing to me,” said McCaskill, a freshman at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia. “Honestly, he was a very respectable guy. He was the perfect role model, someone you would want your son to look up to.”
He said some other kids in the program would joke that Samarin was a Russian spy, mostly because of his accent, “but nothing was wrong with him from my perspective.”
A state lawmaker posted a photo on Twitter of her handing Samarin an award in May 2014. Rep. Patty Kim, a Dauphin County Democrat, ended the tweet with “#goingplaces #proud.”
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Samarin, who remained in the Dauphin County jail on Thursday on charges including identity theft and tampering with public records.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Must be crazy to create a phony life just to attend high school. There has got to be something more to this.
What do you expect a Democratic state with a Tax Crazy Governor Guess what Pennsylvania you elected this the Idiot TOM WOLFE hope you all happy !!!!!!!! You get what you vote for!!!
From what is reported, the man should be honored rather than jailed. The U.S.A. is a nation where the poor can become rich and where those in need can work their way out of poverty. This young man, from what is reported, is an example of great ability which deserves to be admired. Can someone please help him get out of jail and back in harness?
I fully and strongly and fully agree .Samarin is a highly valuable asset to the USA .. The law enforcement agents qualify as officious idiots ..They should prioritize their resources towards dealing with terrorists , robbers ., drug dealers and the total vast population of violent and dangerous elements that threaten the USA ..
I dearly hope the a nationwide petition will be organized to free Samarin and provide him with legal status !
This is one facet of a sick US government …with totally warped priorities !
bocacassidy@ yahoo.com
Yea agreed. Harrisburg is becoming a large drug and gang invested slum, why not go after them? Too dangerous? Bad guys fight back?
The authorities are quick to release hardened criminals to our streets, but an honor student, they will put him under the jail. What a sick society.
SAMARIN is not a criminal ..He is constructively a valuable aspirant American as opposed to the armies of human trash that overwhelm the USA … His release and restoration should demanded by the millions of rational US citizens who recognize
him as a quality human resource – as opposed to the bureaucratic nitwits who jailed him …
This guy sounds like the type of person the West needs, instead of some the lazy good for nothings who are invading us all the time and being brown nosed by the bureaucrats even though they are not interested in blending in to our Western culture.
He would most likely be a valuable contributor to any Western country.
Good luck
Bob
Everyone gets what they elect. I think
Its important for everyone to know about
Hillary. Her personal advisor is to hillary…
What valerie jarrod is to obama. Both
Islamists. Both controlling..one magazine
Playfully suggesting her bedroom would
Be rite above hillarys in the white house.
Her name is huma mahmood abedin. She
Is married to anthony weiner. Yep the guy
Who was kicked out of congress for lewd
Texting. Huma has many muslim connections. Read up on her and decide
If you want another obama.
Berry comrade solinski “