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...

https://wtop.com/education/2025/04/former-school-athletic-director-gets-4-months-in-jail-in-racist-ai-deepfake-case/

How Could Maryland Teacher Be Hired Without Valid Teaching Certificate?

...Following his arrest, Project Baltimore obtained a copy of the resume Darien used to get his six-figure job at Pikesville. Much of it was not true. Darien claimed to have earned a bachelor’s degree, two master’s and a doctorate. But Fox45 News contacted the universities on his resume, and none of them had any record of Darien graduating. Which leads to another unanswered question.

If Darien did not have a college degree, he would not have been eligible for a Maryland teaching certificate, which is required to be an athletic director. Therefore, how could Darien have been hired by BCPS if he didn’t have a valid teaching certificate?

For months, Project Baltimore has been trying to get answers to these questions. BCPS Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers said the school system followed the standard process before hiring Darien, which includes checking references and credentials in addition to a criminal background check and fingerprinting...

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/trial-date-set-for-ex-pikesville-athletic-director-accused-in-ai-plot-against-principal-dazhon-darien-eric-eiswert-myriam-rogers-baltimore-county-schools#

Florida warned schools about a teacher’s fraud. Baltimore County missed the red flags.

Florida tried to warn other school systems about Dazhon Darien back in 2016.

Thanks to a national clearinghouse for screening teachers, hundreds of school districts would have known to ask more questions before hiring Darien, the high school athletic director who was arrested in April and accused of framing a Pikesville principal using artificial intelligence. Florida’s education department flagged the clearinghouse eight years ago that Darien was denied a teaching certificate based on “test or document fraud.”

Baltimore County Public Schools didn’t get the memo...

...Baltimore County schools also didn’t spot at least 16 false claims in Darien’s job application, a pattern of deception he’s repeated on applications to at least three other institutions across the country. Baltimore County school district officials have said a loophole in the hiring process was to blame but have repeatedly declined to explain what it was, or what they’ve done to close it...

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/pikesville-principal-ai-dazhon-darien-3RBS6CR7JFAW3MZXPR33QXI7PA/

Florida warned schools about a teacher’s fraud. Baltimore County missed the red flags.

Florida tried to warn other school systems about Dazhon Darien back in 2016.

Thanks to a national clearinghouse for screening teachers, hundreds of school districts would have known to ask more questions before hiring Darien, the high school athletic director who was arrested in April and accused of framing a Pikesville principal using artificial intelligence. Florida’s education department flagged the clearinghouse eight years ago that Darien was denied a teaching certificate based on “test or document fraud.”

Baltimore County Public Schools didn’t get the memo.

When the school district first hired Darien in spring 2023, it didn’t have access to the database run by the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education Certification, which has tracked all “adverse action” against licensed educators since 1985, according to Jimmy Adams, the group’s executive director...

...Maryland law requires school systems to review applicants’ employment history “by contacting the employers listed by the applicant” when the job involves direct contact with minors. School systems, though, can set up their own vetting procedures in addition to what’s required by law, according to the state education department...

Baltimore County schools missed red flags hiring man charged in racist AI scandal - The Baltimore Banner

Teacher arrested, accused of using AI to falsely paint boss as racist and antisemitic ***The school district will seek to fire Darien, the superintendent said.***

 A Maryland high school teacher was arrested after he allegedly used artificial intelligence to create phony audio, planting racist and antisemitic words into the voice of his boss, officials said Thursday.

Dazhon Darien, a physical education teacher and athletic director at Pikesville High School, was accused of falsifying the voice of principal Eric Eiswert in January, authorities said.

"We now have conclusive evidence that the recording was not authentic," Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough told reporters in Towson. "It’s been determined the recording was generated through the use of artificial intelligence technology."..

https://www.yahoo.com/news/teacher-arrested-accused-using-ai-211421739.html