Kentucky dad Jesse Kipf faked his own death to avoid paying more than $100K in child support, faces lengthy jail time

A Kentucky father admitted to faking his death to avoid paying his ex-wife more than $100,000 in unpaid child support and faces a lengthy prison sentence for the elaborate ruse.

Jesse Kipf, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of computer fraud in federal court on March 29, according to the plea agreement obtained by Law & Crime .

Kipf was raided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in November after investigators from the FBI in Louisville, Kentucky, the Hawaii Department of Attorney General and the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office learned of his cybercrimes, according to a press release.

Kipf admitted to completing a Hawaii death certificate worksheet in January 2023, in which he created a false death certificate for himself and “designated himself as the medical certifier of the case and certified this case”.

Prosecutors argued that his motivation to commit the cybercrimes was fueled by his desire to avoid paying “his unpaid support obligations to his ex-wife,” the plea agreement states.

The father, alive and well, then “infiltrated other states’ death registration systems” using stolen identifying information, according to the plea agreement.

“He applied a digital signature for (the doctor), providing his name, title and license number. This allowed the accused to be recorded as deceased in many government databases.

However, his illegal online activities were not limited to faking his death.

Kipf also used the credentials he stole to gain access to private, government, and corporate networks in an attempt to sell the sensitive information he fraudulently obtained to others online scammers.

“In doing so, the defendant caused damage to multiple computer networks and stole the identities of numerous individuals,” according to the plea agreement.

In January, Kipf was charged with computer fraud stemming from the February 2023 GuestTek Interactive Entertainment and June 2023 Milestone Inc. data breaches.

Authorities estimated that Kipf’s damages for failing to pay child support and access to the networks exceeded more than $195,000, according to court documents.

The hacked father agreed to pay restitution of $3,500 to the state of Hawaii, $56,247 to Milestone Inc., $19,653 to GuestTek Interactive Entertainment and $116,357 to the California child support agency for children, according to the plea agreement.

He also agreed to forfeit his electronic devices and $16,218 in gold and silver coins.

Kipf was initially charged with five counts of computer fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, which earned him a maximum sentence of 30 years behind bars before many of those charges were dropped after he agreed to the plea agreement.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 12 in federal court in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Kipf now faces a maximum of five years in federal prison for aggravated identity theft and a minimum of two years for wire fraud — both punishable by a hefty fine of $250,000, according to the plea agreement.