A Wisconsin man, Matthew Keirans, is facing up to 32 years in prison for a 36-year identity theft scheme in which the victim, William Woods, was sent to jail and a mental hospital after authorities did not believe his story. Woods, who was homeless in Los Angeles in 2019, discovered someone was using his name to accumulate debt. When he tried to close the accounts, police were called, and he was arrested and charged with identity theft and false impersonation. Despite repeatedly denying being Keirans, a California judge found Woods not mentally competent to stand trial and sent him to a state mental hospital before eventually being released after pleading no contest.
Woods spent 428 days in county jail and 147 days in the mental hospital before being released. However, he continued to pursue regaining his identity. Upon discovering that Keirans had used his ID to secure a high-paying job at the University of Iowa Hospital, Woods contacted University of Iowa Police. Despite Keirans initially dismissing Woods as “crazy,” further investigation revealed that Woods was indeed the biological son of the man listed on his birth certificate. Keirans pleaded guilty to federal charges after this revelation and accepted his guilt. The two men had initially met while working together at a hot dog cart in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the late 1980s.
Court records indicate that Keirans assumed the name William Woods publicly in 1990 and had been living as Woods ever since. He went as far as marrying and having a child, all under the name William Woods. Keirans also used a genealogy website to obtain information about Woods’ family and fraudulently acquired a copy of Woods’ Kentucky birth certificate. While no sentencing date has been set in the federal case against Keirans, he spent time in jail last year on related state charges in Iowa. Meanwhile, there is a hearing scheduled in California next week to vacate Woods’ conviction.
This case highlights the devastating consequences of identity theft, with Woods spending extensive time in jail and a mental hospital due to being wrongly accused of a crime he did not commit. The inability of authorities to recognize his true identity led to a prolonged ordeal for Woods, whose life was disrupted as a result of Keirans’ fraudulent actions. The fact that Keirans was able to live for decades under a false identity, marrying, having a family, and even pursuing a successful career, underscores the serious implications of identity theft and the importance of robust systems in place to prevent and address such crimes.
The revelation of Woods’ true identity and Keirans’ subsequent guilty plea shed light on the extent of the deception that had taken place over the span of nearly four decades. Keirans’ acknowledgment of his wrongdoing and the impact it had on Woods’ life may provide some measure of closure for the victim, who had endured significant hardships as a result of the identity theft scheme. Moving forward, it will be important to address the systemic failures that allowed this deception to persist for so long, and to ensure that mechanisms are in place to protect individuals from falling victim to similar schemes in the future.
