A Kentucky man determined to dodge $100,000 in outstanding payments he owed to his ex-wife thought he was clever enough to disappear, but it turns out that vanishing without a trace takes a lot of work — not to mention espionage-level hacking skills. He soon could face up to seven years behind bars and a fine of $500,000.
While faking your own death is not inherently a crime, it’s pretty hard to do without breaking at least a few serious laws.
Jesse E. Kipf hacked the death registry systems of three states, private businesses, and corporate networks with sensitive information and credentials he stole from other people.
The 39-year-old from Somerset, Kentucky, got away with it for nearly a year (and probably longer) until he was indicted in November 2023 thanks to a multi-agency operation that stretched from Vermont to Hawaii and involved the FBI, according to a press release.
Kipf pleaded guilty on March 29, 2024 — avoiding a jury trial and potentially 30 years in prison — to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of computer fraud, both of which carry a $250,000 fine, according to the plea agreement obtained by Law & Crime.
In an elaborate hacking scheme, Kipf accessed the Hawaii death registry system using the credentials of a doctor living in another state and created a case for his own death. He “assigned himself as the medical certifier and certified that case,” which meant that he would be listed as deceased in several government databases, stated the agreement.
Kipf was accused of also illegally accessing state websites for Arizona and Vermont, as well as businesses GuestTek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. and Milestone Inc., both vendors of large hotel chains.
His shenanigans didn’t end with faking his death to avoid child support. As part of the plea deal, the very-much-alive father also confessed to using the credentials he stole to hack private businesses and governmental and corporate networks. He then attempted to sell access to these networks to other criminals online, according to court documents.
“In doing so, the Defendant caused damage to multiple computer networks and stole the identities of numerous individuals,” according to the plea agreement.
His original indictment by a federal grand jury trial in November 2023, which was obtained by Atlanta Black Star, came with the possibility of a much heavier sentence — up to 30 years in prison. He was initially charged with five counts of computer fraud and three counts of identity theft, but many of those charges were dropped when he took the plea deal.
When news of the elaborate scheme hit the internet, social media users had some fun at Kipf’s expense.
One user joked, “Going to prison is probably better than paying in his mind – she still doesn’t get the money 🤣🤣🤣.”
Another called Kipf’s action “Shameful” while another questioned, “I want to know what he did for a living that would put his support payment up that high.”
Kipf has now agreed to pay restitution to all parties he wronged, including $116,000 in back child support to his ex-wife and more than $75,000 to governmental and corporate networks. Additionally, he agreed to forfeit his electronic devices and $16,218 in gold and silver coins.
His sentencing hearing is set for April 12, according to NBC News.
