Hacker Who Faked His Death to Avoid Child Support Sentenced to Prison

The Washington Post / Kyle Melnick

13:32 JST, August 22, 2024

Jesse Kipf died in January 2023, according to the state of his birth, Hawaii. But federal agents soon discovered that Kipf was really alive in Kentucky after he had hacked into and manipulated government databases to avoid paying a six-figure child support debt.

Kipf had stolen the credentials of a doctor from another state to gain access to Hawaii’s death registry system and create and certify his own death certificate, according to prosecutors. Afterward, Kipf obtained a new identity and continued to sell stolen private information “to international buyers, including individuals from Algeria, Russia, and Ukraine,” prosecutors said.

On Monday, Kipf, 39, was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison on computer fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Kentucky announced Tuesday. Kipf, of Somerset, Ky., must also pay more than $195,700 in child support debt and damages he inflicted to government and corporate computer systems.

“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,” Carlton Shier IV, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said in a statement.

Kipf was indicted in November on five counts of computer fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft and two counts of making false statements on applications in connection with federally insured financial institutions. Kipf pleaded guilty in the spring to one count of computer fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in a deal that dropped his other charges.

Thomas Miceli, Kipf’s attorney, told The Washington Post that he and Kipf “respect the court’s decision.”

Kipf had faced up to five years in prison for computer fraud and up to two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.

Miceli asked the court in a memorandum last week to sentence Kipf, who was born in Honolulu, to six years in prison. Miceli wrote in the memorandum that Kipf served on active duty in the U.S. Army between June 2006 and May 2009, including a deployment to Iraq from June 2007 to May 2008. Kipf divorced his wife – the mother of his daughter – in 2008 after about two years of marriage, Miceli said.

Miceli wrote in the memorandum that Kipf suffered “psychological trauma” from his military service, which “led to an increase in reckless and criminal behavior.” Army officials did not return a request for service verification Wednesday evening.

“A 72 month sentence with repayment of a large sum of money should serve as a deterrent for anyone considering a similar crime,” Miceli wrote.

The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Kentucky requested Kipf serve seven years.

Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum last week that Kipf owed more than $116,000 in child support to his daughter and her mother. Investigators found that Kipf searched on his laptop “California child support arrears father died,” an apparent attempt to search whether child support is still owed after the father dies, and “Remove California child support for deceased,” prosecutors wrote in the memorandum.

“By attempting to kill himself off to avoid child support obligations, the Defendant continues to re-victimize his daughter and her mother,” prosecutors wrote.

In addition to the state of Hawaii’s database, Kipf hacked into networks for the states of Arizona and Vermont and two large hotel chain vendors between June 2022 and June 2023, prosecutors said. Kipf also shared on internet forums ways to access states’ death registry systems and private business networks for payments, according to prosecutors.

Kipf stole three people’s identifications to commit wire fraud and computer fraud, prosecutors said, and he sold people’s Social Security numbers, medical records and birth dates.

After the government registered his death, Kipf obtained a fake Social Security number to continue living his life under a new identity, prosecutors said.

“This case will serve as a warning to other cyber criminals,” Shier, the U.S. attorney, said in the statement, “and he will face the consequences of his disgraceful conduct.”