A North Bethesda woman charged after admitting that she used an AI-generated image as part of a prank that prompted a police response has agreed to donate $1,000 to the Montgomery County Police Department to resolve the case.
In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Moesha Gardener, 28, agreed to make the donation as a resolution to charges of making a false statement concerning an emergency or crime and making a false statement to a state official concerning a crime. Gardener has 90 days to make the donation, and the State will dismiss the charge once the funds are transferred.
The charges stem from an incident on October 8, 2025, when Montgomery County Police responded to a reported burglary in the 5000 block of McGrath Boulevard in North Bethesda.
According to prosecutors, Gardener’s husband called 911 after she told him that an unknown man had forced his way into their home after she answered the door. When officers arrived, Gardener was alone inside the residence, while her husband arrived around the same time as police.
Gardener later admitted that she had sent the messages to her husband along with a computer-generated image created using artificial intelligence that appeared to show an intruder sitting on their couch. She told authorities the messages were intended as a prank.
“We believe this is a fair resolution,” State’s Attorney John McCarthy said. “People who participate in social media-related pranks need to be aware that there could be unintended consequences. In this case, multiple marked police cruisers, with activated emergency lights and sirens, drove at high speeds during daytime traffic to respond to the 911 call. This posed an unnecessary risk to public safety and involved the use of already strained resources.”
Assistant State’s Attorney Isabella Richardson is prosecuting the case.
