Kentucky man admits to faking his own death to avoid paying more than $100,000 in child support

A Kentucky man admitted to faking his own death to avoid paying more than $100,000 in unpaid child support to his ex-wife, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court late last month.

Jesse E. Kipf, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of wire fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky on March 29. According to the plea agreement, Kipf accessed Hawaii’s death registration system. in January 2023, using the contact information of a doctor living in another state and creating a self-death record. He “then designated himself as the medical certifier of the case and certified this case,” which resulted in Kipf being listed as deceased in numerous government databases.

“The defendant also infiltrated other states’ death registration systems using identifying information he stole from other real people,” the plea agreement states. “The defendant faked his own death, in part, in order to avoid his support obligations to his ex-wife.”

Additionally, Kipf admitted to hacking private, government and enterprise networks with information he stole from others and attempting to sell access to the networks to online buyers, the document states judicial.

His lawyer, Thomas Miceli, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kipf’s crimes resulted in damages estimated at more than $195,000, including more than $79,000 in losses to government and corporate networks and more than $116,000 in losses to his ex-wife. He agreed to pay restitution to all parties he harmed, according to the plea agreement.

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, according to a press release. He was accused of illegally accessing the websites of the states of Arizona, Hawaii and Vermont, as well as the companies GuestTek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. and Milestone Inc.

Kipf was also charged with two counts of making false statements on applications related to federally insured financial institutions for allegedly opening two credit accounts in 2020 and 2023 with a false Social Security number, according to the indictment.

These initial charges carried a prison sentence of more than 30 years.

After accepting a plea deal, Kipf faces a maximum of seven years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines, according to court records.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for the afternoon of April 12.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com