 HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A 24-year-old Ukrainian man who faked his name and age to attend a Pennsylvania high school has been ordered to spend two months in prison on federal fraud charges. The penalty U.S. Middle District Senior Judge Sylvia H. Rambo levied on Artur Samarin was less than the 3-month jail term Assistant U.S. Attorney Darryl F. Bloom suggested. Samarin, who masqueraded as teenager Asher Potts to attend Harrisburg High, pleaded guilty to the federal charges in August. He faces deportation during a sentencing next week for separate fraud and sex crime charges. He has admitted lying about his identity to get a free public education and having sex with a 15-year-old girl in 2014, when he was 22.
– A 24-year-old Ukrainian man who faked his name and age to attend a Pennsylvania high school has been ordered to spend two months in prison on federal fraud charges. Artur Samarin—who called himself Asher Potts when he enrolled at Harrisburg High School in 2012—pleaded guilty to passport fraud and Social Security fraud in August, the AP reports. He has also admitted lying about his identity to get a free public education and having sex with a 15-year-old girl in 2014, when he was 22, and will be sentenced on separate fraud and sex crimes charges next week. Samarin, who will probably be deported when he finishes his sentence, was a star student at Harrisburg High—and a runner-up for homecoming king—before his true age was discovered. At Thursday's hearing, his lawyers said he had been one of the most distinguished students in the high school's history and had supported charities, including the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, PennLive reports. The lawyers said Samarin had been pushed into the fraud by Michael and Stephayne Potts, a couple who became his "adoptive parents" but treated him like a servant—and reported him to authorities when he "escaped." They are also facing fraud charges related to Samarin's high school career.