PIKESVILLE, Md. — Disgraced former Pikesville High School athletic director Dazhon Darien on Monday pleaded guilty to Disturbing School Operations.
Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Jan Alexander sentenced Darien to four months behind bars.
Darien used Artificial Intelligence to create a hate-filled racist rant impersonating the voice of former Pikesville High School principal Eric Eiswert.
This caused a scandal within the Baltimore County Public School System leading to threats of violence against Eiswert and the school.
From the get-go Eiswert suggested Darien was the likely culprit.
"Mr. Eiswert advised that he believed the recording was created using artificial intelligence and was adamant that he has never thought or spoken those words. He stated that he believed the athletic director for Pikesville High School, identified as this Defendant Dazhon Darien, was responsible for creating and circulating the audio clip," detectives wrote in charging documents. "Mr. Eiswert explained that there had been conversations with the defendant about his contract not being renewed due to his poor performance at the school, his inability to follow clearly laid out procedures, and his unwillingness to follow the chain of command. Issues between the administration and the defendant had started in the latter part of 2023 leading up to the release of the audio recording."
Despite his strong denial, elected leaders, appointed school officials, and activists, continued to condemn Eiswert.
As result of the fallout, Eiswert was removed as school principal.
Investigators ended up corroborating Eiswert's version of events through
Turns out Darien used a PayPal account to buy a voice cloning application that he linked with his Apple iCloud.
Investigators described the computerized app's capabilities in charging documents.
"Web service that can turn text into speech using computer-generated voice. It also has voice cloning abilities, where it can turn the user's voice into that of a celebrity. One can also upload a sample of an individual's voice to then read back text that the user inputs."
Detectives discovered Darien's usage of the app through his internet browsing history, that connected to his home IP address.
Also inside Darien's phone, investigators found a pair of audio recordings from private conversations he had with Eiswert in 2023.
Darien uploaded a portion of that audio into the app, which generated a new recording, making it appear as if Eiswert was spewing racist remarks.
After manufacturing the phony recording, Darien emailed it to three school co-workers under the alias TJ FOUST.
The subject line of the email read "Pikesville Principal-- Disturbing Recording."
Although he denied knowing a TJ FOUST, and claimed to have nothing to do with the recording, it was Darien's phone number attached to the TJ FOUST G-Mail account. On top of that, the account was first opened at his grandmother's home in Los Angeles, California.
Eiswert has since sued for what he had to go through.
RELATED:Former Pikesville principal sues Baltimore County school system, employee who used AI to frame him
Meanwhile, for Darien, it's only the tip of the iceberg. In January, he was hit with federal child pornography charges.
Agents found Google accounts and Apple IDs in Darien's name containing files of teenage boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
At least one text message appeared to show Darien sexually coercing a minor.
One victim recalled meeting Darien on Snapchat.
They admitted to sending Darien 'content' starting at age of 15 in exchange for money.
Phone records show Darien last paid the victim, just three days before they were interviewed by police.
From December 14, 2023 through March 23, 2024, Darien allegedly paid the victim nine times.
A search of Darien's social media accounts led police to four more victims.
MORE: Former Pikesville High athletic director faces federal child pornography charges
Each recounted Darien asking for either sex, pictures, or videos.
Darien remains in federal custody pending trial. The state sentence related to the school AI case is running concurrent.
