A Kentucky man who hacked into the state’s death registration systems to fake his own death in an attempt to avoid paying more than $100,000 in outstanding child support has been sentenced to more than six years in prison.
Jesse Kipf39, was sentenced in the Eastern District of Kentucky in a plea agreement on charges of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft.
In January 2023, Kipf accessed Hawaii’s death registration system using information from a doctor who lived in another state and created a case for his own death, prosecutors said in a news release.
Completed a Hawaii State Death Certificate Worksheet, He appointed himself as the medical certifier of the case and certified his death using the doctor’s digital signature, which resulted in him being recorded as a deceased person in many government databases, the statement said.
Officials said he admitted to faking his own death in part “to avoid outstanding child support obligations.”
According to the sentencing memorandum, owed more than $116,000 in child support obligations. But it didn’t stop there.
He sold personal data on the dark web
Kipf also infiltrated other state death registration systems, private business networks, and government and corporate networks “using credentials he stole from real people.” Then, tried to sell access to those networks on the dark webprosecutors said in the statement.
Kipf acknowledged having databases of personally identifiable 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,” according to the sentencing memo.
The damage to state death registration systems included nearly $80,000 in repair costs, as well as “incalculable consequences in trying to rectify the networks and harm to the people whose Personally identifiable information was exposed, stolen or misused“the file said.
Kipf must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years upon his release.
Kipf was initially indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2023 on five counts of computer fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, according to a news release. He was charged with illegally accessing state websites in Arizona, Hawaii, and Vermontas well as the companies GuestTek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. and Milestone Inc.
Carlton S. Shier IV, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, called their plot “cynical and destructive.”
“This case is a stark reminder of how damaging computer criminals can be and how important computer and online security is to all of us. Hopefully, thanks to the excellent work of our law enforcement partners, this case will serve as a warning to other cybercriminals and they will face the consequences of their shameful conduct,” Shier added.
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