Facepalm: A federal courtroom has sentenced a deadbeat dad to 81 months in jail for hacking authorities methods to pretend his loss of life. A grand jury indicted the person in July 2023 on a number of prices of laptop fraud, aggravated id theft, and financial institution fraud. He admitted to accessing authorities methods and registering a fraudulent loss of life certificates to keep away from paying his again little one assist.
The US Legal professional’s Workplace for the Japanese District of Kentucky prosecuted Somerset resident Jesse Kipf for cybercrimes concentrating on personal and governmental networks. It started when he manipulated loss of life information in Hawaii’s loss of life registry system, falsely itemizing himself as deceased utilizing a solid digital signature to evade paying little one assist. He additionally offered entry to those networks on the darkish internet. The US Legal professional stated Kipf’s crimes resulted in almost $200,000 in damages, disrupted crucial operations, and compromised private info.
“This scheme was a cynical and damaging effort, primarily based partly on the inexcusable purpose of avoiding his little one assist obligations,” stated United States Legal professional Carlton S. Shier, IV. “Thankfully, via the superb work of our legislation 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 purposes. In line with 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 legislation enforcement companions, this defendant who hacked quite a lot of laptop methods and maliciously stole the id of others for his personal private acquire, will now pay the worth,” stated FBI Particular Agent in Cost Michael E. Stansbury for the Louisville Area Workplace. “Victims of id theft face lifelong affect and for that cause, the FBI will pursue anybody silly sufficient to interact on this cowardly conduct.”
The courtroom sentenced Kipf to 81 months in federal jail, including that he should full not less than 85 p.c of his time earlier than changing into eligible for launch. Following his incarceration, Kipf faces three years of carefully supervised parole. His penalties might have been a lot greater 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.
