Ex-Pikesville principal speaks after man’s plea in AI case

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Jan Marshall Alexander sentenced Dazhon Darien to four months in jail

The recording quickly spread across social media, and Eric Eiswert said his life forever changed.

Eiswert was working as the principal of Pikesville High School on Jan. 17, 2024, when a clip that purported to contain audio of him making racist and antisemitic remarks behind closed doors started to circulate all over the internet, including on the Instagram account @murder_ink_bmore, which chronicles crime and boasts 261,000 followers.

One day, Eiswert said, he was a respected educator who had served students and their families in Baltimore County for 27 years. The next day, people viewed him as a “racist and antisemite who said vile things about students and teachers.”

Though people later learned the recording was fake, Eiswert said, he knew “my life would never be the same.”

“I am slowly rebuilding my professional career, and I’m beginning to heal,” Eiswert said on Monday in the Baltimore County Courts Building. “But this experience will never leave me.”

The man who used artificial intelligence to create the recording, Dazhon Darien, entered an Alford plea in Baltimore County Circuit Court to one count of disturbing school operations. That means he acknowledged that prosecutors could prove the case against him but did not admit guilt.

Circuit Judge Jan Marshall Alexander then sentenced Darien, 32, the former athletic director of Pikesville High School who split his time between Baltimore and Houston, to serve four months in the Baltimore County Detention Center.

Darien not only harmed the principal and school community, but harmed the legacy of those who’ve actually experienced racism and discrimination, Alexander said.

“It is real. It happens. We live it,” said Alexander, who also is Black. “But we can’t just throw it out there every time we feel like it — it’s got to be deserved.”

Alexander said a “good section of the community” will always look at Eiswert in a different light “whether it’s deserved or not.”

“It is clear that he did not make that recording,” Alexander said. “He will always have to take that with him.”

How the AI investigation unfolded

Assistant State’s Attorney Brigid McCarthy read a statement of facts into the record to support the conviction:

Baltimore County Police launched an investigation into the recording and interviewed Eiswert the same day it started circulating on the internet.

Eiswert told detectives he never made those comments and believed AI was used to create the clip. He said he thought that Darien was responsible.

That’s because Eiswert reported that he had conversations with Darien about not renewing his contract due to poor performance, inability to follow procedures and unwillingness to adhere to the chain of command.

Police tied Darien to a Gmail account that was used to send out the recording to two teachers with the subject line, “Pikesville Principal — Disturbing Recording.” The clip appeared on social media about 30 minutes later.

Catalin Grigoras, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver and director of the National Center for Media Forensics, performed an “extensive analysis” and concluded that the audio contained traces of AI-generated content.

Grigoras also determined that someone then edited the clip and added background noises to make it seem more realistic.

Law enforcement executed a search-and-seizure warrant for Darien’s cellphone but were not able to crack the device for nine months.

Detectives later discovered that he had searched for “AI Voice Cloning” and used a website to make the recording.

Darien created an account on the website, purchased a subscription and uploaded audio of a private conversation he had in 2023 with Eiswert in his office to generate the clip.

Investigators uncovered evidence that Darien had uploaded audio files to his Gmail account, including one that was called, “Pikesville Principal Being Racist.mp3.”

Baltimore County Public Schools immediately removed Eiswert as principal of Pikesville High School, and community members inundated the front desk with phone calls expressing concern and anger.

Staff members reported that they felt unsafe, which led to an increased police presence. Teachers also feared that Darien could have planted recording devices in other parts of the building.

Meanwhile, Eiswert received threats, including one that stated the “world would be a better place if you were on the other side of dirt.” He’s now principal of Sparrows Point Middle School in Edgemere.

‘Still not accepting full responsibility’

Outside the courthouse, Deputy State’s Attorney John Cox called Darien’s actions reprehensible and added that they had an enormous effect on the principal and school community.

“He, in my mind, was still not accepting full responsibility,” Cox said, “even though the evidence was clear what he did.”

One of Eiswert’s attorneys, Brian Cathell, thanked police and prosecutors for “taking the matter seriously.”

“We are happy today to see that Mr. Darien has been held accountable by the criminal justice system,” Cathell told reporters. “We’re also confident that the civil justice system will hold Mr. Darien, the school system and other individuals involved accountable.”

Gboyinde Onijala, a spokesperson for Baltimore County Public Schools, declined to comment on the case, citing pending litigation. Eiswert is currently suing the school system.

‘Lesson for every party involved here’

Darien’s lead attorney, Assistant Public Defender Jasmine Hope, asked the judge to consider her client’s lack of prior criminal record along with the nonviolent nature of the crime, which she described as a “new type of situation.”

Darien, she said, could not have anticipated that his actions would lead to charges or other consequences.

“Artificial intelligence is such a new, emerging and scary thing,” she said. “I think this has been a lesson for every party involved here.”

While at Pikesville High School, Darien experienced difficulty navigating his position as athletic director, Hope said.

People, she said, constantly reprimanded, disrespected and yelled at her client. He felt belittled and powerless.

Hope detailed hardships and trauma that her client experienced during his childhood. Despite those struggles, Darien, she said, continued his education.

Darien, she claimed, has a bachelor’s degree in history and master’s degree in educational leadership and was pursuing his doctorate.

But a Baltimore Banner investigation found that Darien made at least 29 false claims on four job applications.

His resume included a bachelor’s degree in history education and master’s degree in educational leadership from Langston University. But Darien never graduated from the institution.

Darien was originally supposed to stand trial on Jan. 28, but FBI special agents arrested him one day before on new charges after he showed up to court for a motions hearing.

He’s now charged in U.S. District Court in Baltimore with sexual exploitation of children, coercion and enticement of a child, receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

The charges carry mandatory minimum sentences that range from five years to 15 years in prison. Darien is being held in the Chesapeake Detention Facility while he awaits trial.

U.S. Senior District Judge James K. Bredar has set a status-and-scheduling conference for May 28 to discuss the next steps in the case.

When he was given the opportunity to address the court, Darien said he was taking responsibility “for my part.”

Darien apologized and stated that he loves the students, teachers and Pikesville High School community.

“It was never my intention to cause or create or spread any harm to anyone,” he said. “I just did what I thought was right based on the knowledge that I had. But at the end of the day, I made a decision and I have to live with the consequences of that decision.”

He said it’s never right to take his anger and frustration out on others “regardless of the lack of leadership.” He added that he had the opportunity to leave the school, but did not take it.

Darien told the judge he’s done a lot of good, more than he can remember. He said he’s spent most of his life giving back to others — “more than I’ve ever gotten back from them.”

Now, he said, he sees his prosecution as an opportunity to learn how to navigate and grow from difficult situations.