A former Baltimore County high school athletic director took a plea Monday on charges of using artificial intelligence to frame the school’s ex-principal as a bigot.
Dazhon Darien, 32, accepted an Alford plea for disturbing school operations by creating an AI-generated recording of former Pikesville High School Principal Eric Eiswert that impersonated the administrator making hateful comments about Black students and the Jewish community.
Alford pleas are agreements in which the defendant accepts that there is enough evidence to be found guilty but does not admit guilt.
Darien was sentenced to four months in prison for the offense. He is already behind bars while a separate child sex abuse case plays out in federal court.
The AI audio clip first circulated in January 2024 and ignited a scandal in Baltimore County Public Schools.
Police said the recording portrayed Mr. Eiswert saying things such as “these ungrateful Black kids who can’t test their way out of a paper bag” and “if I have to get one more complaint from one more Jew in this community, I’m going to join the other side.”
Forensic experts analyzed the recording and determined it had some of the hallmarks of being created by AI.
Further investigation revealed Darien looked up how to use AI to make fake conversations while on the school’s network.
Police said Darien created the AI audio clip to retaliate against Mr. Eiswert, who was looking into whether the former athletic director had mishandled school funds.
Mr. Eiswert, who is now the principal at Sparrow Point Middle School, is suing the school system for how it treated him in the wake of the audio release.
In January, federal prosecutors charged Darien with sexual exploitation of a child and receiving child sexual abuse material after he was accused of having child pornography on his phone.
Prosecutors said Darien also paid a minor to send sexually explicit videos of themselves to the defendant.
If convicted, Darien could be sent to prison for at least 20 years.
