Kentucky man sentenced for faking his own death to avoid outstanding child support

LONDON, Ky. (TCN) -- A 39-year-old man will spend over six years in prison for using a physician’s login credentials to fake his own death so he wouldn’t have to pay child support.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky announced Aug. 20 that a judge sentenced Jesse Kipf to 81 months for computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. He must serve at least 85% of his prison sentence and three years of supervised release.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, in January 2023, Kipf used the credentials of a physician in another state to access the Hawaii Death Registry System and made a "'case' for his own death." Prosecutors said Kipf signed off on his own death using the digital signature of the doctor, and he was registered as a deceased individual among many government databases.

Kipf reportedly confessed to faking his death "to avoid his outstanding child support obligations."

Kipf also allegedly used other states’ death registry systems, business networks, and governmental and corporate systems using real people’s information and then attempted to sell access to the networks on the dark web. According to an initial release from the U.S. Attorney’s office, Kipf allegedly gained access to sites owned by the state of Arizona, the state of Hawaii, GuestTek Interactive Entertainment Ltd., the state of Vermont, and Milestone Inc.

Kipf reportedly used the information of three different individuals to commit wire fraud and computer fraud. Prosecutors allege he provided false statements to federally insured corporations so he could open credit accounts.

The damage Kipf caused to governmental and corporate computer networks and his unpaid child support reportedly amount to over $195,000.

Kipf was originally indicted in November 2023 on five counts of computer fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of making false statements on applications.

In a statement, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky said, "This scheme was a cynical and destructive effort, based in part on the inexcusable goal of avoiding his child support obligations."