Kentucky Man Sentenced to Six Years for Faking Death to Evade Child Support
A Kentucky man has been sentenced to over six years in prison after attempting to fake his own death to avoid paying more than $100,000 in outstanding child support. Jesse Kipf, 39, was sentenced on Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky following a plea agreement on charges of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft.
In January 2023, Kipf accessed the Hawaii death registry system using the credentials of a physician from another state. He created a fraudulent death certificate for himself, using the doctor’s digital signature to certify his own demise. This led to Kipf being incorrectly registered as deceased in multiple government databases, according to prosecutors .
Kipf admitted to orchestrating the scheme primarily to escape his mounting child support obligations, which exceeded $116,000, as noted in the sentencing memorandum. However, his criminal activities extended beyond this single act of fraud. Kipf infiltrated other state death registry systems and illegally accessed private and corporate networks using stolen credentials. He attempted to sell access to these networks on the dark web .
The investigation revealed that Kipf had databases containing personal identifiable information (PII), including Social Security numbers and medical records, stored on his electronic devices. He sold this data to international buyers from countries such as Algeria, Russia, and Ukraine . The damage caused by Kipf’s actions was extensive, with nearly $80,000 in repair costs needed for the compromised state systems, alongside significant harm to the individuals whose information was exposed.
Carlton S. Shier IV, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, condemned Kipf’s actions as “cynical and destructive,” highlighting the broader implications of cybercrime. “This case is a stark reminder of how damaging criminals with computers can be, and how critically important computer and online security is to us all,” Shier said in a statement .
As part of his sentence, Kipf must serve 85% of his prison term and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years upon his release. His attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Initially, Kipf was indicted by a federal grand jury in November on five counts of computer fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft. He was accused of illegally accessing websites for Arizona, Hawaii, and Vermont, as well as business networks for companies including GuestTek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. and Milestone Inc .
