Whiz kid was 23, Ukrainian
HARRISBURG — Honor student Asher Potts was well into his senior year in high school when police got a tip the earnest teenager who had so impressed community leaders for nearly four years was not the person he claimed to be.
Investigators soon concluded Potts was actually a 23-year-old Ukrainian named Artur Samarin, who had overstayed his visa, and they said in charging documents he confessed to having sex with an underage teen girl.
His arrest last week — charged first with identity theft, then with statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors — drew astonished responses from people who knew the boyish-looking Samarin through his participation in a school military program, his academic excellence and his acceptance to a prestigious flight school.
“My understanding is his motives were pure coming over here, and given his time at John Harris (High School), no one had a complaint about him,” said his lawyer, Adam Klein. “Until that’s proven differently, that’s my feeling at this point — that he came here to do what many immigrants do, to take part in the American dream.”
Prosecutors said they are working with federal investigators to piece together the facts about Samarin and more charges are possible. But it’s clear he made an impression in Harrisburg.
The city’s mayor at the time pronounced Oct. 27, 2013, as Asher Potts Day to recognize his accomplishments; he was a student representative to the school board; and he was third runner-up for a spot on the homecoming court, Pennlive.com reported.
One aspect of the case that has drawn the attention of investigators is the role played by Michael and Stephayne Potts, with whom he lived for much of the past four years before moving in months ago with another family.
Samarin said last week in a call from jail his family pooled money to send him to the U.S. “for a better life.” After his visa expired, he said, the Pottses helped him obtain a birth certificate and a fake Social Security card in the name of Asher Potts.
