August 23rd 2024.
Jesse Kipf, a 39-year-old father, has recently pleaded guilty to a count of computer fraud and a count of aggravated identity theft. As a result, he has been sentenced to 81 months in prison. This decision came after Kipf attempted to evade paying over $100,000 in child support by hacking into a state database and faking his own death.
According to the US Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Kentucky, Kipf accessed the Hawaii Death Registry System using a doctor's username and password from another state. He then proceeded to create a "case" for his death and fill out a State of Hawaii Death Certificate Worksheet, forging the physician's digital signature. This allowed his fake death to be registered in various government databases.
In his plea agreement, Kipf admitted that one of the reasons for faking his death was to avoid his child support obligations. He also confessed to entering into other states' death registries and government, corporate, and private business networks to steal credentials from individuals. Additionally, he attempted to sell access to these networks on the dark net.
But Kipf's actions did not stop there. He continued to hack into various computer systems and steal identities for his own personal gain. This ultimately led to his arrest and subsequent guilty plea.
US Attorney Carlton Shier IV stated that Kipf's scheme was "cynical and destructive" and centered around avoiding his child support obligations. This case serves as a reminder of the harm that cyber criminals can cause and the importance of computer and online security.
Kipf, who was born in Hawaii, divorced in 2008 in California and owed over $116,000 in child support to his daughter and ex-wife, as reported by The New York Times. As part of his sentence, he will be required to serve 85% of his prison term and will be under supervised probation for three years. He has also agreed to pay $195,758.65 in unpaid child support and damages for the computer systems he compromised.
Michael Stansbury, a special agent in charge of the FBI's Louisville Field Office, stated that Kipf's actions were malicious and for his own personal gain. He will now face the consequences of his disgraceful conduct.
Kipf's attorney, Tommy Miceli, stated that they respect the court's decision. It is a harsh punishment for his actions, but it serves as a warning to other cyber criminals that they will face the consequences of their illegal activities.
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