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A Kentucky man has been sentenced to over six years in prison for hacking into the state death registry to fake his own death in a desperate bid to avoid paying child support.
Jesse Kipf, 39, of Somerset, was hit with the hefty 81-month sentence on Monday after he pleaded guilty to charges of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Kipf had accessed the Hawaii Death Registry System using a stolen username and password of a physician living in another state, according to the Department of Justice.
Once in the system, he create a “case” for his own death, forging a State of Hawaii Death Certificate Worksheet.
He assigned himself as the medical certifier for the case and certified his own death using a doctor’s digital signature.
This meant that he was registered as deceased in multiple government databases.
Kipf admitted that he faked his own death, “in part, to avoid his outstanding child support obligations.”
He also admitted to infiltrating other states’ death registry systems too, as well as private business networks and governmental and corporate networks using credentials stolen from real people.
He had then tried to sell access to these networks on the dark web.
Prosecutors said that Kipf had also accessed networks associated to the companies Guest-Tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd on or around February 12 2023 and Milestone, Inc on or around June 21 2023.
Specifically, he accessed the networks associated with the companies’ services provided to hotel chains, which included internet use during hotel stays or use of hotel websites.
Investigators found no evidence that Kipf had accessed any personal information of hotel customers.
According to prosecutors, Kipf’s failure to pay child support and the damage to governmental and corporate computer systems amounted to a grand total of $195,758.65.
Carlton Shier IV, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said in a statement that Kipf’s actions had been a “cynical and destructive effort” to get to the “inexcusable goal of avoiding his child support obligations.”
“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,” he said.
Kipf ultimately reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
He was sentenced on Monday. According to federal law, Kipf must serve 85 per cent of his prison sentence, which in this case means around 69 months in prison.
Once released he will be on probation for three years.
The Independent has contacted the US Department of Justice for further information.
