Man has to go to prison for years because he faked his death to avoid paying child support

PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT/Gray News) – A Kentucky man who admitted to faking his death to avoid paying child support has been sentenced to several years in prison.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Jesse Kipf was sentenced on Monday to about six and a half years in prison.

Kipf pleaded guilty in April to computer fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Authorities said Kipf accessed Hawaii's death registration system via a computer last year and created a fake death certificate for himself.

His confession states that he did this to avoid paying over $100,000 in child support.

“This scheme was a cynical and destructive attempt, based in part on the inexcusable goal of evading his child support obligations,” said U.S. Attorney Carlton S. Shier.

Kipf also hacked other government and corporate networks to steal credentials.

The damage to the computer systems of state-owned companies and his failure to pay his child support obligations totaled approximately $200,000.

“Thanks to the excellent work of our law enforcement partners, this case will serve as a warning to other cybercriminals,” Shier said.

Under federal law, Kipf must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.

Copyright 2024 WKYT via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.