PERL - Search Active Directory for specific username

I am trying to write a script in perl to search active directory for a certain username.

I wrote it in powershell, as an example:

$first = "Tom"
$last = "Themachine"
$firstchar = $first.substring(0,1)
echo "$last$firstchar"
$account1 = "$last$firstchar"
$struser = "$account1"
 $dom = [System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain]::GetCurrentDomain()
$root = $dom.GetDirectoryEntry()
 $search = [System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher]$root
$search.Filter = "(sAMAccountName=$struser)"
$result = $search.FindAll()
 if ($result -ne $null){Write-Host $struser " Exists"}
else {
Write-Host $struser "does not exist" }

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This returns "ThemachineT does not exist" ..because the username ThemachineT does not exists in my domain
I am looking for good script examples, not one word hints. I need good examples I can work with. Thanks! I will reward maximum points!