Facepalm: A federal court docket has sentenced a deadbeat dad to 81 months in jail for hacking authorities methods to pretend his demise. A grand jury indicted the person in July 2023 on a number of fees of laptop fraud, aggravated id theft, and financial institution fraud. He admitted to accessing authorities methods and registering a fraudulent demise certificates to keep away from paying his again little one assist.
The US Legal professional’s Workplace for the Jap District of Kentucky prosecuted Somerset resident Jesse Kipf for cybercrimes concentrating on personal and governmental networks. It started when he manipulated demise information in Hawaii’s demise registry system, falsely itemizing himself as deceased utilizing a cast digital signature to evade paying little one assist. He additionally bought entry to those networks on the darkish net. The US Legal professional mentioned Kipf’s crimes resulted in almost $200,000 in damages, disrupted essential operations, and compromised private info.
“This scheme was a cynical and damaging effort, primarily based partly on the inexcusable objective of avoiding his little one assist obligations,” mentioned United States Legal professional Carlton S. Shier, IV. “Luckily, by means of the wonderful work of our regulation enforcement companions, this case will function a warning to different cyber criminals, and he’ll face the implications of his disgraceful conduct.”
An FBI investigation revealed that Kipf accessed and tried to promote information from networks that included a non-public firm and a state authorities registry. Kipf deliberate to make use of the stolen information, which included private identification info, for additional id theft and fraud. His scheme’s magnitude and class indicated he has vital technical expertise.
Authorities additionally charged Kipf with aggravated id theft, which carries extreme penalties due to the far-reaching penalties for victims. The indictment moreover alleged that Kipf tried to make use of the stolen identities to fill out a number of financial institution mortgage functions. Based on a US Legal professional’s Workplace press launch, his actions posed vital dangers to particular person victims and the integrity of monetary and governmental networks.
“Working in collaboration with our regulation enforcement companions, this defendant who hacked quite a lot of laptop methods and maliciously stole the id of others for his personal private achieve, will now pay the worth,” mentioned FBI Particular Agent in Cost Michael E. Stansbury for the Louisville Area Workplace. “Victims of id theft face lifelong influence and for that purpose, the FBI will pursue anybody silly sufficient to interact on this cowardly habits.”
The court docket sentenced Kipf to 81 months in federal jail, including that he should full at the very least 85 % of his time earlier than changing into eligible for launch. Following his incarceration, Kipf faces three years of carefully supervised parole. His penalties may have been a lot larger had he not copped a plea.
Assistant US Legal professional Kate Ok. Smith reiterated her workplace’s dedication to pursuing justice in cybercrime and id theft circumstances, highlighting the significance of safeguarding digital and private info in an more and more interconnected world.