A man accused of using artificial intelligence to impersonate the principal of Pikesville High School and destroy his reputation is set to stand trial in a case that’s received national attention.

Dazhon Darien, 32, of Greektown, is scheduled to appear Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court for a motions hearing. His trial is expected to begin on Tuesday.

Darien is charged with disturbing school operations, retaliating against a witness, stalking and related offenses. He previously worked as athletic director at the school.

Here’s what you need to know.

What are the allegations against Dazhon Darien?

Baltimore County Police allege that Darien used AI to create a recording of Principal Eric Eiswert purportedly making racist and antisemitic comments behind closed doors.

The audio quickly spread across social media on Jan. 17, 2024, including on the Instagram account @murder_ink_baltimore, which posts about crime and boasts 255,000 followers.

Eiswert told investigators that he believed Darien was responsible because there had been issues between them. Those include conversations Eiswert had with Darien about not renewing his contract due to “frequent work performance challenges,” police assert.

In 2023, Eiswert also initiated an internal investigation into Darien over an allegation of theft during his time as the high school’s athletic director.

Darien approved a more than $1,900 payment to his roommate under the pretense that he was working as an assistant coach on the girls soccer team, police claim.

Though his roommate coached basketball, police allege, he never helped out with soccer.

When he spoke to investigators, Darien denied any involvement in creating and releasing the audio, police reported.

Detectives accessed law enforcement databases and served subpoenas on Google, AT&T and T-Mobile. Police reported that they tied a Gmail account to Darien that sent the clip to teachers with the subject line, “Pikesville Principal – Disturbing Recording.”

Catalin Grigoras, director of the National Center for Media Forensics and an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, analyzed the recording and determined that it “contained traces of AI-generated content with human editing after the fact,” police reported.

Meanwhile, Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, also examined the clip.

Farid concluded that the audio was manipulated, police assert, and multiple recordings were spliced together.

Darien also searched for OpenAI tools, police allege, while on the school system’s computer network.

Police arrested Darien at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on April 25, 2024, as he tried to board a flight to Houston.

Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger told reporters that law enforcement might have to go to Annapolis to “make some adaptions to bring the law up to date with the technology that was being used.”

State Sens. Shelly Hettleman, a Democrat from Baltimore County, and Katie Fry Hester, a Democrat from Howard and Montgomery counties, introduced a bill in this year’s session that would make distributing a “forged digital likeness” a crime under some circumstances.

The Senate Judicial Proceedings is set to hold a hearing Wednesday on the legislation.

How many charges does he face in the case?

Darien faces five counts:

• Theft between $1,500 and $25,000
• Disturbing school operations
• Retaliating against a witness
• Stalking
• Intimidating a witness

How has Darien responded to the accusations?

Darien has not publicly responded to the allegations.

His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Jasmine Hope, previously released a statement.

“My client is not guilty,” Hope said. “Artificial intelligence is a sensational topic and the recording underlying this case received a lot of publicity. However, the charges do not apply and this is a sad attempt to criminalize conduct that is not criminal.”

What did The Baltimore Banner discover?

A Baltimore Banner investigation found that Darien over the years made at least 29 false claims on four job applications using two different names, including two that he submitted to Baltimore County Public Schools. He also did not meet the minimum qualifications for his position as athletic director.

In 2016, the Florida Department of Education flagged in a clearinghouse for screening teachers that Darien was denied a teaching certificate based on “test or document fraud.”

Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Myriam Rogers has insisted that the school system followed its hiring process. She also promised to fix a loophole that let Darien in the door.

Isn’t there also a lawsuit?

Yes.

Eiswert filed a lawsuit in Baltimore County Circuit Court against the school system and others, alleging it hired Darien despite a “myriad of lies and exaggerations” on his resume that were “easily discoverable and disqualifying upon basic vetting.”

In a statement, Eiswert’s attorneys, Brian Cathell, Matthew Thompson and Nicholas Bonadio, wrote the school system’s failure to follow its own hiring and oversight processes caused their client “significant damage.”

Plus, they said, the “lack of response to the defamatory audio encouraged the continuing harm.”

Eiswert is now the principal of Sparrows Point Middle School in Edgemere.

“Mr. Eiswert has spent his career as a dedicated educator,” they said, “and is hopeful that this lawsuit will drive meaningful change in protecting students, teachers, and administrators.”