Man pleads Guilty to pretending to be an Attorney

United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon stated today that 47-year-old Phillip Asher, a/k/a “Phillip Reynolds,” of Atlanta, Georgia, has entered a guilty plea in federal court in Columbia, South Carolina, to wire fraud. United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis accepted the guilty plea and will impose sentence after she has reviewed the presentence report, which will be prepared by the United States Probation Office. Evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing established that the defendant befriended women across the Southeastern and Midwestern United States, and in doing so, fraudulently held himself out as an attorney. The defendant would use this role as an attorney to obtain money that he was not entitled to received. The case came to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) when an owner of a Chinese food restaurant in Northeast Columbia reported that one of his former employees was attempting to extort money from him following an incident at his restaurant. The investigation found that the defendant, while acting as an attorney, threatened the owner with lawsuits and deportation of a family member if the owner did not pay $300,000. The investigation collected numerous recorded conversations via telephone and in person wherein the defendant threatened the owner of the restaurant. The investigation culminated in a sting operation conducted at a local bank, which was captured on audio and video recording. During the sting, the defendant accepted $250,000 in extortion money. Moments after the transfer of money, FBI agents entered the room and arrested the defendant. The defendant admitted to fraudulently holding himself out as an attorney and threatening the owner’s family member with deportation in order to receive $250,000. Mrs. Lydon stated the maximum penalty for wire fraud is imprisonment for 20 years and/or a fine of $250,000. The case was investigated by agents of the FBI. Assistant United States Attorneys Jim May and Alyssa Leigh Richardson of the Columbia office are prosecuting the case.