A founder of the group Students for Trump has pleaded guilty to posing as a lawyer in a $46,000 scam.
John Lambert, 23, was convicted in Manhattan of using the false name ‘Eric Pope’ and inventing a fake law firm called ‘Pope & Dunn’ to fraudulently provide ‘legal services’ to clients.
Lambert pleaded guilty on Tuesday to wire fraud conspiracy in a Manhattan federal court for perpetuating the scam between 2016-2018.
“Are you aware you are not an attorney?” Judge Valerie Caproni asked Lambert on Tuesday as he faced a possible prison sentence of 20 years. “Yes, your honor,” he responded. Lambert, a native of Tennessee, and another unnamed individual conducted the scam on a resident of New York while in North Carolina.
Lambert also claimed to have a finance degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a Law Degree from New York University, and 15 years of legal experience in corporate and patent law.
“Lambert’s de facto career was one of a grifter: he had never been to law school and certainly wasn’t an attorney,” said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman. “Today, Lambert admitted to his crimes and faces time in prison for his misdeeds.”
While attending Campbell University in North Carolina in 2015, Lambert co-founded Students for Trump with fellow conservative student Ryan Fournier. Both Fournier and Lambert made several appearances on cable news and had a significant following on social media.
He is said to have departed from the organization after Trump’s election. “We are highly disappointed in his actions and fully condemn the path which John Lambert decided to take after departing from Students for Trump’s executive board,” the group said in a statement after Lambert’s April arrest. The group was recently acquired by Turning Point Action, a conservative nonprofit organization.
Lambert will be sentenced in November and is not expected to appeal any sentence less than 21 months. He will also forfeit $46,654.
[Opinion: The Students for Trump founder hatched a $46,000 scam. Are we really surprised?]
