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New York Man Admits to Running Fake Law Firm
Grimy Times has learned that John Lambert, a 23-year-old from Bristol, Tennessee, has pleaded guilty to running a scheme to defraud consumers of legal advice and services. The scam, which lasted from August 2016 to April 2018, saw Lambert pose as an experienced attorney with a law degree from an elite law school, when in fact he had never attended law school and wasn’t an attorney.
Lambert used various online platforms, websites, emails, phone calls, and other means to mislead his victims into believing he was a highly qualified attorney. He then provided legal advice and services to his victims in exchange for payment, raking in money from at least six individuals and corporations.
One of the victims was forced to withdraw money from their 401(k) account to pay Lambert for his services, which included drafting a will, corporate and intellectual property law, and a dispute with a former employee. Lambert used the alias ‘Eric Pope’ when communicating with his victims and falsely represented that he was an attorney at a law firm called ‘Pope and Dunn’. He also claimed to have attended an elite law school and worked with hundreds of clients, including ‘tech moguls’ and ‘entrepreneurs’, in the United States and Europe.
However, Lambert was not and had never been an attorney, and was not located in New York City. His scheme was uncovered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI, who praised the outstanding investigative work of Special Agents.
Lambert pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Valerie E. Caproni on November 18, 2019.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit, with Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin Woodside Schrier in charge of the prosecution.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. 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.’
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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