Man convicted of faking death to avoid paying $100,000 in child support – KIRO 7 News Seattle

A Kentucky man didn't want to pay more than $100,000 in child support, so he hacked into a death registry and faked his own death. Now Jesse Kipf will spend more than six years behind bars.

According to federal prosecutors, Kipf broke into Hawaii's death registration system in January 2023 and used a doctor's username and password to create and certify a death certificate.

The death record was entered into other government databases and Kipf, who was born in Hawaii, was also listed as dead.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky said Kipf did this “in order, among other things, to evade his outstanding child support obligations.”

According to the New York Times, Kipf divorced his wife in California in 2008 and owed his daughter and her mother more than $116,000 in child support, court documents show.

Prosecutors did not disclose how they learned of Kipf's crime, but during the investigation, searches on his laptop revealed entries for “California child support arrears, father died” and “California child support for deceased cease,” among others.

Kipf also received a Social Security number that had never been assigned to him and used it because his real number was linked to his death record.

In addition, prosecutors alleged that he used stolen credentials to break into other state death records, as well as private business networks, government networks and corporate networks, and attempted to sell the information on the dark web, the Times reported.

He said he had databases of personal information, including Social Security numbers and medical records, that he sold to buyers in Algeria, Russia and Ukraine, NBC News reported.

His access to the systems also cost nearly $80,000 to fix, and there were “unforeseeable consequences in attempting to repair the networks and causing harm to the individuals whose personal information was exposed, stolen or misused,” the court documents said, according to NBC News.

Kipf pleaded guilty to computer fraud and identity theft as part of an agreement with prosecutors. Other charges were dropped as part of the agreement.

A judge sentenced Kipf to 81 months, or six and three-quarter years, in prison. He was also ordered to pay $195,758.65 in back child support and restitution related to the computer hacking, the Times reported.

Prosecutors had asked for 84 months, or seven years, in prison because he had a previous criminal record. He was convicted in 2010 on various charges, including illegal possession of four or more means of payment. In that case, he was sentenced to three to five years in prison. He also faces additional charges in another case in which he is accused of using stolen credit cards to pay for food through delivery apps.

His lawyer, who asked for 72 months or six years behind bars, said his client was a military veteran who served in the Iraq War and was “generally discharged under honorable conditions” but had a drug addiction that “led to an increase in reckless and criminal behavior.”

However, attorney Tommy Miceli said, “We respect the court's decision” on the verdict, the Times reported.

NBC News reported that Kipf must serve 85 percent of his sentence and will be on probation for three years after his release.

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