Former School Athletic Director Sentenced for AI-Generated Racist Deepfake

Former school athletic director gets 4 months in jail in racist AI deepfake case

BALTIMORE (AP) -- A former high school athletics director accused of using artificial intelligence to create a racist and antisemitic deepfake of a Maryland principal has been sentenced to four months in jail as part of a plea deal for disrupting school operations. Dazhon Darien, 32, accepted the deal Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, records show. He entered an Alford plea to the single misdemeanor charge, which means he acknowledged the evidence against him without directly admitting guilt. His original charges included theft, stalking and retaliating against a witness. According to police and prosecutors, Darien used AI software to generate a fake recording of former Pikesville High School principal Eric Eiswert's voice expressing frustration with Black students and their test-taking abilities. The recording, which was disseminated throughout the school community and shared widely on social media last January, also purported to capture the principal disparaging Jewish people, authorities said. Not long before the recording surfaced, Eiswert had informed Darien that his contract wouldn't be renewed the following semester because of concerns over poor job performance, according to court documents. The concerns included allegations that Darien paid his roommate $1,900 in school funds under the pretense of coaching the girls' soccer team, police said. Experts who analyzed the recording concluded it was AI-generated. Despite receiving a relatively short sentence, Darien could remain incarcerated longer as he faces a separate federal case in which he's accused of sexual exploitation of children and possession of child sexual abuse material. Authorities said they discovered evidence of those crimes while searching Darien's phone and other devices. While fake recordings of political figures and celebrities have surfaced in recent years as the technology becomes more widespread, officials have said the case is among the first examples of AI being used to embarrass someone for personal gain. The subset of artificial intelligence known as generative AI can create hyperrealistic images, videos and audio clips. As it becomes cheaper and easier to use, anyone with an internet connection can access its capabilities. Even a short recording of someone's voice allows users to generate cloned speech from a script. Other examples of AI-generated audio include robocalls impersonating former President Joe Biden that tried to dissuade Democrats from voting in last year's New Hampshire primary election. People have also cloned the voices of purportedly kidnapped children over the phone to get ransom money from parents, experts say. In response, many states have enacted laws in recent years targeting the use of AI, especially targeting media intended to influence election results and digitally created or altered child sexual abuse imagery. During this year's legislative session, Maryland lawmakers considered a bill that would have prohibited the use of AI to falsely impersonate people. Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger advocated in favor of the law change, but it ultimately didn't pass. Darien's bogus audio sent shockwaves through the suburban Pikesville community as angry phone calls inundated the school and hate-filled messages accumulated on social media. Authorities said police were sent to patrol Eiswert's home in response to threats. Eiswert, who is now principal of another Baltimore County school, said from the beginning that he believed the recording was fake. He has since filed a lawsuit against the school district, alleging Darien never should have been hired in the first place. Darien joined the district in spring 2023, when he started teaching social studies at a different high school, according to the lawsuit. He was later promoted to Pikesville athletic director. Eiswert's complaint cites reporting from The Baltimore Banner that revealed a host of false claims on Darien's job application, including multiple degrees he hadn't obtained. Florida education officials also denied Darien a teaching certificate in 2016 based on "test of document fraud" and flagged his name in a national database, the Banner found. Eiswert argues Baltimore County school officials failed to properly vet his application materials and investigate his background.

Ex-School Athletic Director Gets 4 Months in Jail for Racist Deepfake Recording

Sign up for the On Tech newsletter. Get our best tech reporting from the week. Get it sent to your inbox. A former athletic director at a Baltimore area high school who was accused of using artificial intelligence to create a racist and antisemitic audio clip impersonating the school's principal was sentenced on Monday to four months in jail as part of a plea deal, according to prosecutors. The former director, Dazhon Darien, 32, pleaded guilty to disturbing school operations, a misdemeanor charge, according to the Baltimore County State's Attorney's Office. Mr. Darien had previously faced additional charges, including theft, stalking and retaliating against a witness. According to The Associated Press, Mr. Darien entered an Alford plea to the disturbing school operations charge, which allows defendants to maintain their innocence while pleading guilty. Mr. Darien, the former athletic director of Pikesville High School, fabricated an audio clip that included a rant about "ungrateful Black kids who can't test their way out of a paper bag" and disparaging comments about Jewish students, according to a statement of facts in the case used to support the guilty plea. According to police records, the audio was an attempt to smear the school's principal, Eric Eiswert, according to police records. According to the statement of facts, Mr. Eiswert said that there had been "conversations" with Mr. Darien about his contract not being renewed because of "his poor performance at the school, his inability to follow clearly laid out procedures and his unwillingness to follow the chain of command." Problems with Mr. Darien began in late 2023, leading up to the audio's release, according to the statement. A lawyer listed for Mr. Darien did not respond to calls and messages on Tuesday. The Baltimore County Public Schools district declined to comment on the case. Efforts to reach Mr. Eiswert on Tuesday were unsuccessful. After his sentencing, Mr. Darien was returned to federal custody as he is facing charges that he sexually exploited children and received child pornography. The fabricated recording, which was posted on Instagram in January 2024, quickly spread, roiling Baltimore County Public Schools, which serves more than 100,000 students. While the district investigated, Mr. Eiswert, who denied making the comments, had multiple threats to his safety, the police said. He was also placed on administrative leave, the school district said. According to police documents, Mr. Darien developed a grievance against Mr. Eiswert in December after the principal began investigating him. Mr. Darien had authorized a district payment of $1,916 to his roommate, the police said, "under the pretense" that the roommate was working as an assistant coach for the Pikesville girls' soccer team. Soon after, the police said, Mr. Darien used the school district's internet services to search for artificial intelligence tools, including from OpenAI, the developer of the ChatGPT chatbot, and Microsoft's Bing Chat. (The New York Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, in December 2023, for copyright infringement of news content related to A.I. systems.) It has never been easier to make realistic fabricated videos, often called deepfakes. Where it once took elaborate software to put one person's face onto another's, many of those tools are now common and can be found on smartphone apps. This has put some A.I. researchers on edge about the dangers the technology poses.

Former school athletic director gets 4 months in jail in racist AI deepfake case

BALTIMORE -- A former high school athletics director accused of using artificial intelligence to create a racist and antisemitic deepfake of a Maryland principal has been sentenced to four months in jail as part of a plea deal for disrupting school operations. Dazhon Darien, 32, accepted the deal Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, records show. He entered an Alford plea to the single misdemeanor charge, which means he acknowledged the evidence against him without directly admitting guilt. His original charges included theft, stalking and retaliating against a witness. According to police and prosecutors, Darien used AI software to generate a fake recording of former Pikesville High School principal Eric Eiswert's voice expressing frustration with Black students and their test-taking abilities. The recording, which was disseminated throughout the school community and shared widely on social media last January, also purported to capture the principal disparaging Jewish people, authorities said. Not long before the recording surfaced, Eiswert had informed Darien that his contract wouldn't be renewed the following semester because of concerns over poor job performance, according to court documents. The concerns included allegations that Darien paid his roommate $1,900 in school funds under the pretense of coaching the girls' soccer team, police said. Experts who analyzed the recording concluded it was AI-generated. Despite receiving a relatively short sentence, Darien could remain incarcerated longer as he faces a separate federal case in which he's accused of sexual exploitation of children and possession of child sexual abuse material. Authorities said they discovered evidence of those crimes while searching Darien's phone and other devices. While fake recordings of political figures and celebrities have surfaced in recent years as the technology becomes more widespread, officials have said the case is among the first examples of AI being used to embarrass someone for personal gain. The subset of artificial intelligence known as generative AI can create hyperrealistic images, videos and audio clips. As it becomes cheaper and easier to use, anyone with an internet connection can access its capabilities. Even a short recording of someone's voice allows users to generate cloned speech from a script. Other examples of AI-generated audio include robocalls impersonating former President Joe Biden that tried to dissuade Democrats from voting in last year's New Hampshire primary election. People have also cloned the voices of purportedly kidnapped children over the phone to get ransom money from parents, experts say. In response, many states have enacted laws in recent years targeting the use of AI, especially targeting media intended to influence election results and digitally created or altered child sexual abuse imagery. During this year's legislative session, Maryland lawmakers considered a bill that would have prohibited the use of AI to falsely impersonate people. Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger advocated in favor of the law change, but it ultimately didn't pass. Darien's bogus audio sent shockwaves through the suburban Pikesville community as angry phone calls inundated the school and hate-filled messages accumulated on social media. Authorities said police were sent to patrol Eiswert's home in response to threats. Eiswert, who is now principal of another Baltimore County school, said from the beginning that he believed the recording was fake. He has since filed a lawsuit against the school district, alleging Darien never should have been hired in the first place. Darien joined the district in spring 2023, when he started teaching social studies at a different high school, according to the lawsuit. He was later promoted to Pikesville athletic director. Eiswert's complaint cites reporting from The Baltimore Banner that revealed a host of false claims on Darien's job application, including multiple degrees he hadn't obtained. Florida education officials also denied Darien a teaching certificate in 2016 based on "test of document fraud" and flagged his name in a national database, the Banner found. Eiswert argues Baltimore County school officials failed to properly vet his application materials and investigate his background.

Former school athletic director gets 4 months in jail in racist AI deepfake case

BALTIMORE (AP) -- A former high school athletics director accused of using artificial intelligence to create a racist and antisemitic deepfake of a Maryland principal has been sentenced to four months in jail as part of a plea deal for disrupting school operations. Dazhon Darien, 32, accepted the deal Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, records show. He entered an Alford plea to the single misdemeanor charge, which means he acknowledged the evidence against him without directly admitting guilt. His original charges included theft, stalking and retaliating against a witness. According to police and prosecutors, Darien used AI software to generate a fake recording of former Pikesville High School principal Eric Eiswert's voice expressing frustration with Black students and their test-taking abilities. The recording, which was disseminated throughout the school community and shared widely on social media last January, also purported to capture the principal disparaging Jewish people, authorities said. Not long before the recording surfaced, Eiswert had informed Darien that his contract wouldn't be renewed the following semester because of concerns over poor job performance, according to court documents. The concerns included allegations that Darien paid his roommate $1,900 in school funds under the pretense of coaching the girls' soccer team, police said. Experts who analyzed the recording concluded it was AI-generated. Despite receiving a relatively short sentence, Darien could remain incarcerated longer as he faces a separate federal case in which he's accused of sexual exploitation of children and possession of child sexual abuse material. Authorities said they discovered evidence of those crimes while searching Darien's phone and other devices. While fake recordings of political figures and celebrities have surfaced in recent years as the technology becomes more widespread, officials have said the case is among the first examples of AI being used to embarrass someone for personal gain. The subset of artificial intelligence known as generative AI can create hyperrealistic images, videos and audio clips. As it becomes cheaper and easier to use, anyone with an internet connection can access its capabilities. Even a short recording of someone's voice allows users to generate cloned speech from a script. Other examples of AI-generated audio include robocalls impersonating former President Joe Biden that tried to dissuade Democrats from voting in last year's New Hampshire primary election. People have also cloned the voices of purportedly kidnapped children over the phone to get ransom money from parents, experts say. In response, many states have enacted laws in recent years targeting the use of AI, especially targeting media intended to influence election results and digitally created or altered child sexual abuse imagery. During this year's legislative session, Maryland lawmakers considered a bill that would have prohibited the use of AI to falsely impersonate people. Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger advocated in favor of the law change, but it ultimately didn't pass. Darien's bogus audio sent shockwaves through the suburban Pikesville community as angry phone calls inundated the school and hate-filled messages accumulated on social media. Authorities said police were sent to patrol Eiswert's home in response to threats. Eiswert, who is now principal of another Baltimore County school, said from the beginning that he believed the recording was fake. He has since filed a lawsuit against the school district, alleging Darien never should have been hired in the first place. Darien joined the district in spring 2023, when he started teaching social studies at a different high school, according to the lawsuit. He was later promoted to Pikesville athletic director. Eiswert's complaint cites reporting from The Baltimore Banner that revealed a host of false claims on Darien's job application, including multiple degrees he hadn't obtained. Florida education officials also denied Darien a teaching certificate in 2016 based on "test of document fraud" and flagged his name in a national database, the Banner found. Eiswert argues Baltimore County school officials failed to properly vet his application materials and investigate his background.

Former School Athletic Director Gets 4 Months in Jail in Racist AI Deepfake Case

BALTIMORE (AP) -- A former high school athletics director accused of using artificial intelligence to create a racist and antisemitic deepfake of a Maryland principal has been sentenced to four months in jail as part of a plea deal for disrupting school operations. Dazhon Darien, 32, accepted the deal Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, records show. He entered an Alford plea to the single misdemeanor charge, which means he acknowledged the evidence against him without directly admitting guilt. His original charges included theft, stalking and retaliating against a witness. According to police and prosecutors, Darien used AI software to generate a fake recording of former Pikesville High School principal Eric Eiswert's voice expressing frustration with Black students and their test-taking abilities. The recording, which was disseminated throughout the school community and shared widely on social media last January, also purported to capture the principal disparaging Jewish people, authorities said. Not long before the recording surfaced, Eiswert had informed Darien that his contract wouldn't be renewed the following semester because of concerns over poor job performance, according to court documents. The concerns included allegations that Darien paid his roommate $1,900 in school funds under the pretense of coaching the girls' soccer team, police said. Experts who analyzed the recording concluded it was AI-generated. Despite receiving a relatively short sentence, Darien could remain incarcerated longer as he faces a separate federal case in which he's accused of sexual exploitation of children and possession of child sexual abuse material. Authorities said they discovered evidence of those crimes while searching Darien's phone and other devices. While fake recordings of political figures and celebrities have surfaced in recent years as the technology becomes more widespread, officials have said the case is among the first examples of AI being used to embarrass someone for personal gain. The subset of artificial intelligence known as generative AI can create hyperrealistic images, videos and audio clips. As it becomes cheaper and easier to use, anyone with an internet connection can access its capabilities. Even a short recording of someone's voice allows users to generate cloned speech from a script. Other examples of AI-generated audio include robocalls impersonating former President Joe Biden that tried to dissuade Democrats from voting in last year's New Hampshire primary election. People have also cloned the voices of purportedly kidnapped children over the phone to get ransom money from parents, experts say. In response, many states have enacted laws in recent years targeting the use of AI, especially targeting media intended to influence election results and digitally created or altered child sexual abuse imagery. During this year's legislative session, Maryland lawmakers considered a bill that would have prohibited the use of AI to falsely impersonate people. Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger advocated in favor of the law change, but it ultimately didn't pass. Darien's bogus audio sent shockwaves through the suburban Pikesville community as angry phone calls inundated the school and hate-filled messages accumulated on social media. Authorities said police were sent to patrol Eiswert's home in response to threats. Eiswert, who is now principal of another Baltimore County school, said from the beginning that he believed the recording was fake. He has since filed a lawsuit against the school district, alleging Darien never should have been hired in the first place. Darien joined the district in spring 2023, when he started teaching social studies at a different high school, according to the lawsuit. He was later promoted to Pikesville athletic director. Eiswert's complaint cites reporting from The Baltimore Banner that revealed a host of false claims on Darien's job application, including multiple degrees he hadn't obtained. Florida education officials also denied Darien a teaching certificate in 2016 based on "test of document fraud" and flagged his name in a national database, the Banner found. Eiswert argues Baltimore County school officials failed to properly vet his application materials and investigate his background. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.