The man who helped create the Republican lobby group Students for Trump has admitted running a scam in which he pretended to be a lawyer and took money for dispensing legal advice.
John Lambert, 23, from Knoxville, Tennessee, went by the name of Eric Pope in the swindle. He set up a fake law firm called Pope & Dunn between 2016 and 2018.
He claimed he was an NYU Law School graduate with a finance degree from the University of Pennsylvania with a decade and a half of corporate and patent law experience.
Lambert, in reality, had attended Campbell University, 30 miles south of Raleigh, North Carolina, where he majored in trust and wealth management,
according to Politico.
Lambert had swindled at least six individual and corporate victims who paid him for legal advice and services on a wide range of subjects.
These included dealing with issues with credit reports, drafting a will, corporate and intellectual property law and a dispute with a former employee,
according to the United States Attorney's Office.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said Lambert had represented himself to clients as a prominent New York attorney with a law degree from an elite law school.
"But Lambert's de facto career was one of a grifter: he had never been to law school and certainly wasn't an attorney. Today, Lambert admitted to his crimes and faces time in prison for his misdeeds," he told the Manhattan Federal Court,
the New York Daily News reported.
Berman described Lambert as "just a wolf in sheep's clothing, swindling his victims of their hard-earned money. Now, Lambert is in need of a real attorney as he must answer for his alleged crimes."
During the last presidential campaign, Lambert set up Students for Trump with his classmate Ryan Fournier in 2015. They made headlines with their frequent media appearances.
Their Twitter account featured images of them and bikini-clad women in MAGA hats at political events.
In October 2016 Lambert headlined a "Millennials for Trump" rally at Georgia State University alongside far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos,
Politico reported.
On the eve of the 2016 election, Lambert told NBC News: "I see Donald Trump as reviving the Republican Party."
Students For Trump said Lambert had left the group after the election and "fully condemns" his actions.
Lambert pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy. Under his plea deal with prosecutors, he will not appeal a sentence that is 21 months or less. He also agreed to forfeit $46,654. He will be sentenced on November 18,
the New York Post reported.
The student organization "fully condemns" the actions.
Your point is - To Try to Tar all Conservatives over the actions of one Student.
While criminal action against the Clintons for email and foundations crimes let those criminals go Free!
And the investigation in Obama era abuses - FISA file - etc - is getting the DPST's very nervous.
justifiably so!
Students for Trump Founder Faces Prison After Confessing to $46,000 Scam While Posing As Attorney
