A 39-year-old man has been sentenced to 81 months in prison after hacking government systems to fake his own death and avoid paying child support.

Yes, you read that right. The press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Kentucky, paints a detailed picture of what happened.

In January 2023, Jesse Kipf used several stolen identities to build a case for his own death, including a doctor living in another state. He used this doctor’s stolen username and password to log into the Hawaii Death Registry System and certify his own death, using the doctor’s digital signature.

Kipf admitted that one of the reasons he did this was to avoid paying child support. Kipf reportedly filed for divorce in California in 2008 and owed more than $116,000 in child support to his daughter and her mother, according to court documents.

This was not the only time that Kipf infiltrated the death registry systems of other states, private corporate networks, and government and corporate networks. Each time using stolen credentials.

The access he gained to the systems and networks was then sold on dark web forums.

The case was investigated by the FBI in Louisville. FBI Special Agent Michael E. Stansbury said:

“Working with our law enforcement partners, this suspect, who hacked into multiple computer systems and maliciously stole the identities of others for his own personal gain, will now pay the price.”

In an agreement with prosecutors, Mr. Kipf pleaded guilty in April to one count of computer fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Under the agreement, other charges against him were dropped.

Under federal law, Kipf must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. After his release from prison, he will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years. Damages to government and corporate computer systems and his failure to pay child support totaled $195,758.65.

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