Father from Kentucky stages own death to evade $100,000 in child support payments, authorities say
A man confessed to pretending to die in order to avoid paying over $100,000 in overdue child support to his former spouse.
Jesse Kipf, from Kentucky in the US, stole a doctor’s identity to access the Hawaii death registry system in January 2023.
The 39-year-old managed to fabricate and validate a case indicating his death, as outlined in a plea agreement submitted at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
The agreement disclosed that “The defendant also hacked into the death registry systems of other states using credentials he obtained from real individuals.
“The defendant staged his own death partly to evade his child support responsibilities towards his ex-wife.”
Kipf pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and computer fraud on 29 March 2024.
He also confessed to infiltrating private business, government, and corporate networks using stolen information and attempting to sell network access to online buyers, as stated in court documents.
Kipf’s actions caused more than $195,000 (£154,000) in estimated damages, including over $79,000 (£62,543) in losses to government and corporate networks and more than $116,000 (£92,000) in losses incurred by his ex-wife.
He has agreed to compensate all affected parties, as per the plea agreement.
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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.
He was accused of unlawfully accessing state websites for Arizona, Hawaii, and Vermont, as well as companies GuestTek Interactive Entertainment Ltd and Milestone Inc.
Kipf faced two counts of making false statements on applications related to federally insured financial institutions for allegedly opening two credit accounts in 2020 and 2023 using a fake social security number, according to the indictment.
The initial charges carried a potential prison term exceeding 30 years.
Following a plea agreement, Kipf now faces a maximum of seven years in prison and up to $500,000 (£396,000) in fines, according to court records.
His sentencing hearing is set for the afternoon of 12 April.
