A Wisconsin man, Matthew Keirans, is facing up to 32 years in prison for a 36-year identity theft scheme involving the victim, William Woods. Woods, who was homeless at the time, discovered that someone was using his identity to rack up debt. When Woods tried to close the accounts that Keirans had opened in his name, he was arrested and charged with identity theft and false impersonation. Despite Woods’ protests, authorities in California linked him to the name Matthew Keirans and deemed him mentally incompetent to stand trial, sending him to a state mental hospital.
Woods spent over a year in county jail and in the mental hospital before being released after agreeing to a plea deal. However, he continued to push to regain his true identity. When Woods discovered that Keirans was using his identity to work at the University of Iowa Hospital, he reached out to authorities, who eventually confirmed his true identity through DNA testing. Keirans initially denied the allegations but ultimately pleaded guilty to federal charges. Court records revealed that the two men had met in the late 1980s and Keirans had been assuming Woods’ identity since 1990.
Keirans had used Woods’ identity to marry, have a child, and even conduct genealogical research on Woods’ family history. He fraudulently acquired a copy of Woods’ birth certificate, which he used to further his identity theft scheme. Keirans even used Woods’ identity to get a high-paying job at the University of Iowa Hospital, earning over $100,000 a year. Despite being held on related state charges in Iowa for 20 days, a sentencing date for the federal case has not been set.
The case highlights the devastating impact of identity theft on the victim, as Woods spent over a year in jail and a mental hospital due to authorities’ inability to verify his true identity. It also sheds light on the extent to which Keirans went to assume Woods’ identity, including marrying and starting a family under false pretenses. The upcoming hearing in California to vacate Woods’ conviction underscores the importance of rectifying the injustice done to him as a result of the identity theft scheme.
The case also raises questions about the shortcomings in the system that allowed Keirans to continue his identity theft scheme for 36 years without detection. Authorities failed to properly verify Woods’ identity and instead wrongly accused him of crimes he did not commit. The use of DNA testing to confirm Woods’ identity serves as a crucial step in providing justice for the victim and holding Keirans accountable for his actions. The outcome of the federal case and Woods’ efforts to regain his identity will be closely monitored as a resolution to this long-standing identity theft scheme.
