The impressive academic career of 18-year-old Harrisburg high school senior Asher Potts has made life very difficult for 23-year-old Ukrainian immigrant Artur Samarin. Why’s that, you ask? It turns out that Asher and Artur are the exact same guy and that spells trouble for both of ’em.
Yup! We’ve got a Never Been Kissed on our hands! Only instead of Drew Barrymore doing rom-com funzos as an undercover journalist, we have a real adult that was arrested and charged with theft, identity theft and tampering with public records. Hmm… Spare a surprise cameo from David Arquette, we may have jumped the gun on the Never Been Kissed comparison.
Artur Samarin (a name that veers a bit too close to Armin Tamzarian) was apparently crushing it as a student at Harrisburg High School. He joined the school’s military cadets program, locked down a spot in the National Honor Society, notched a 4.16 GPA in 2014, and was an active member of the school community. Artur’s been playing the role of Asher since (at least) 2012 when his visa expired, and that’s a stint most TV actors would drool over. Y’know, aside from the secrecy and alleged false identity stuff.
There’s a lot of details on the wheelings and dealings of Asher Potts, but there’s loads more mystery and unanswered questions attached to his portrayer Artur Samarin. No one can get a handle on when Samarin arrived in the United States and how he was able to pull off this unlikely (alleged) high school con. Police have indicated that they believe Samarin’s “new” identity was a case of fabrication and not theft. Samarin was said to have had a birth certificate, driver’s license, and other bits of documentation featuring the Potts name.
We look forward to the TV movie that comes of this. Don’t let us down, content hungry cable outlets!
(via ABC 27)
