Asher Potts was the big man on campus at Harrisburg HS — a star scholar, member of the National Honor Society and even runner-up for last fall’s homecoming king.
With a 4.16 grade-point average, he was everything an American teenager was supposed to be — that is, except for being an actual American teenager.
The “18-year-old” Potts was really 23-year-old Artur Samarin, a Ukrainian national who overstayed his visa and hatched a bizarre plan to stay in the US by posing as a high-school student.
Samarin spent four years attending Harrisburg High in Pennsylvania under the false name.
“I marveled at his maturity,” former school-district administrator Gene Veno told the Patriot-News, adding that Samarin was “always a gentleman.” Samarin even got a Social Security card and was enrolled in the school in 2012 by two adults who claimed to be his parents.
When Samarin was inducted into the National Honor Society, he met and was photographed with state Rep. Patty Kim.
“It’s such a strange turn of events. I’m still in shock,” she said.
It’s not clear how authorities learned Samarin was an imposter.
He was charged Tuesday with tampering with public records and identity theft for obtaining ID under false pretenses, said cops, who were nevertheless impressed by Samarin’s work ethic.
“He was a very studious kid and tried to learn as much as anyone would teach him,” Harrisburg police Capt. Gabe Olivera told The Post.
With Post Wires