Kentucky man who faked his death to avoid child support is sentenced to more than 6 years in prison

A Kentucky man who hacked into the state's death records to fake his own death and avoid paying more than $100,000 in unpaid child support has been sentenced to more than six years in prison, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Jesse Kipf, 39, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky as part of a plea agreement for computer fraud and aggravated identity theft.

In January 2023, Kipf used data from a doctor living in another state to gain access to Hawaii's death registration system and created a case for his own death, a state attorney's office said in a press release.

He filled out a Hawaii state death certificate worksheet, appointed himself medical examiner for the case and certified his death with the doctor's digital signature – which resulted in him being registered as deceased in numerous government databases, the press release said.

According to authorities, he admitted to faking his own death, in part to “avoid outstanding child support payments.”

The verdict shows that he owed more than $116,000 in child support.

But he didn't stop.

Kipf also infiltrated other government death registration systems, private business networks, and government and corporate networks “using credentials he stole from real people.” He then attempted to sell access to those networks on the dark web, the prosecutor's press release said.

Kipf admitted that he had databases of personal information on his electronic devices, including social security numbers and medical records, which he sold “to international buyers, including individuals from Algeria, Russia and Ukraine,” the sentencing memo states.

The damage to the state's death registration systems amounts to nearly $80,000 in repair costs, as well as “untold consequences in attempting to restore the networks and the harm to the individuals whose personal information was exposed, stolen or misused,” the filing said.

Kipf must serve 85 percent of his sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Parole Board for three years after his release. NBC News has asked his attorney for comment.

Kipf was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2023 on five counts of computer fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, a press release said. He was accused of illegally accessing Arizona, Hawaii and Vermont state websites, as well as companies GuestTek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. and Milestone Inc.

Carlton S. Shier IV, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, called his plot “cynical and destructive.”

“This case is a stark reminder of how much damage criminals can do with computers and how important computer and online security is to all of us. Fortunately, thanks to the excellent work of our law enforcement partners, this case will serve as a warning to other cybercriminals, and he will face the consequences of his nefarious behavior,” Shier added.