Founder of Students For Trump has pleaded guilty to running a $46,000 scam and posing as a lawyer

The founder of Students For Trump has pleaded guilty to a fraud charge related to pretending to be an attorney and providing unlicensed legal advice to scam people out of $46,000.

John Lambert, 23, of Knoxville, Tennessee enter the plea admitting to wire fraud conspiracy in a Manhattan federal court on Wednesday.

In court, Lambert said he acted with an unidentified accomplice to create a fake website and dole out legal advice, the New York Daily News reported.

They presented themselves as ‘qualified lawyers…providing legal services,’ Lambert said in court. 

Judge Valerie Caproni asked Lambert in court: ‘Are you an attorney?’

He replied: ‘No, your honor.’ 

That didn’t stop Lambert from posing as a fictional lawyer named Eric Pope and claiming to be a graduate of New York University law School.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said: ‘John Lambert 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.’

Lambert used a phony website presenting it as the homepage of a fake firm he called Pope & Dunn. He posed as a fictional lawyer named Eric Pope and claimed to be a graduate of New York University law School. Prosecutors said Lambert pretended to have 15 years of experience in corporate and patent law. He also said he had earned a finance degree from the University of Pennsylvania

Prosecutors said Lambert pretended to have 15 years of experience in corporate and patent law.

He also said he had earned a finance degree from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Lambert used a phony website presenting it as the homepage of a fake firm he called Pope & Dunn. 

Lambert said he carried out the scam between 2016 and 2018 while he was living in North Carolina.  

Lambert gained notoriety in 2015 for founding Students For Trump leading up to the 2016 presidential election with Campbell University classmate Ryan Fournier.

Lambert (left) gained notoriety in 2015 for founding Students For Trump leading up to the 2016 presidential election with Campbell University classmate Ryan Fournier (right). As part of his plea deal, Lambert has agreed not to appeal any sentence of 21 months or less behind bars. Lambert must also forfeit $46,654. Lambert’s sentencing has been set for November 18

The students living in Buies Creek, North Carolina frequently appeared on television and gave interviews in between their studies, and running the Students For Trump Twitter account where they shared images of women in swimwear and the two young men at political events. 

He left the group after President Donald Trump was elected, which the group noted as it distanced itself from Lambert following his arrest in April.

‘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.

As part of his plea deal, Lambert has agreed not to appeal any sentence of 21 months or less behind bars.  

Lambert must also forfeit $46,654.

Lambert’s sentencing has been set for November 18. 

According to the website for Students For Trump, the group was acquired in July by Turning Point Action, which another right-wing student organization.

Lambert left the group Students For Trump after President Donald Trump was elected, which the group noted as it distanced itself from Lambert following his arrest in April. Trump is pictured speaking to the media aboard Air Force One while flying between El Paso, Texas and Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday