- Jesse E. Kipf pleaded guilty to faking his own death to avoid paying more than $100,000 in child support.
- He accessed Hawaii’s death registration system and posed as a doctor to certify his own death.
- Kipf also admitted to hacking private networks to sell online access.
A Kentucky man admitted to faking his death in part to avoid paying his ex-wife more than $100,000 in unpaid child support, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court late last month.
Jesse E. Kipf pleaded guilty March 29 to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of computer fraud.
According to the plea agreement, Kipf admitted to accessing Hawaii’s death registration system in January of last year, using the name and password of a doctor living in another state without his consent.
Posing as the doctor, Kipf created a record for her death, appointed himself as the medical certifier of the case, then proceeded to certify her death, according to the plea agreement reached in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Kipf was later listed as deceased in numerous government databases, according to the plea agreement.
“The defendant faked his own death, in part, in order to escape his support obligations to his ex-wife,” he said.
He also said Kipf infiltrated other states’ death registration systems, using credentials stolen from other people.
Kipf admitted in the plea agreement to hacking into private, government and enterprise networks using stolen credentials in order to sell access to the networks to potential buyers online.
The plea agreement says Kipf inflicted more than $195,000 in estimated damages, including $3,500 to the Hawaii Department of Health and $116,375.77 to his ex-wife.
Under the agreement, Kipf agreed to pay damages to all parties involved.
A November statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Kipf was initially charged with five counts of computer fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft and two counts of making false statements.
However, after agreeing to a plea deal, Kipf now faces a reduced sentence.
Kipf’s lawyer, Thomas Miceli, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Kipf is expected to return to court Friday for sentencing.
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