Matthew Keirans lived another man's identity for 35 years, caused victim's imprisonment for 2 years.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

William Woods was homeless and living in Los Angeles when he learned that someone was racking up debt using his name.

But when he reported his concerns to the branch manager of a bank, he wound up spending nearly two years locked up, accused of identity theft himself. As he continued to insist he was Woods in a desperate effort to clear his name, he was even sent to a state mental hospital and drugged, court records show.

Finally this week, a former high-level Iowa hospital IT worker who had assumed Woods' identity for decades pleaded guilty to two federal charges.

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Meanwhile, a hearing is set for next week in California to vacate Woods' conviction, said Venusse Dunn, a spokesperson in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Court records show the two men first met when they both worked at a hot dog cart in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the late 1980s.

There is no record of Keirans using his own name or social security number after 1988, and he started to publicly assume the name William Woods in 1990, court documents show.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/man-convicted-in-decadeslong-identity-theft-that-led-to-his-victim-being-jailed/ar-BB1l9nB2

Former University of Iowa Hospital employee used fake identity for 35 years


Keirans worked as a systems architect in the hospital’s IT department from June 28, 2013 to July 20, 2023, when he was terminated for misconduct related to the identity theft investigation.

Keirans worked at the hospital under the name William Donald Woods, an alias he had been using since about 1988, when he worked with the real William Woods at a hot dog cart in Albuquerque, N.M.

Use of Woods’ identity
Keirans used Woods’ identity “in every aspect of his life,” including obtaining employment, insurance and official documents, and even paying taxes under the name, according to a plea agreement signed by Keirans.

In 1990, Keirans obtained a fraudulent Colorado identification card with Woods’ name and birthday. He used the ID to get a job at a fast-food restaurant and to get a Colorado bank account. He bought a car for $600 in 1991, using Wood’s name, with two $300 checks that bounced.

He drove the stolen car to Idaho, where it broke down and he abandoned it. He withdrew all his money from the Colorado bank using an ATM in Idaho and left the state. An arrest warrant was issued for Woods in Colorado because of the stolen car, though documents don’t indicate whether Woods was arrested at that time.


https://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/former-university-of-iowa-hospital-employee-used-fake-identity-for-35-years/


Former hospital admin lived under a false identity for 30+ years, called victim "crazy"

Keirans had worked with his victim at a hotdog cart in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the late 1980s, then assumed his identity for the next 30 years, obtaining false documents and a Kentucky birth certificate. His ruse had been so convincing, that his victim was falsely imprisoned for identity theft and sent to a mental hospital with a California judge ordering him to go by Keirans' name instead of his own.

Keirans used the victim's name, social security number, and date of birth to obtain eight loans totaling more than $200,000 from credit unions between August 2016 and May 2022, and maintained deposits at a national bank.

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It wasn't until Keirans' victim was released after more than a year and half that the victim learned Keirans was working as a high-level administrator Iowa City hospital.

The victim contacted the hospital in January 2023, and they referred the complaint to local law enforcement, where an investigator finally began to unravel the 30-year identity theft scheme. That detective was able to obtain DNA evidence proving Keirans wasn't who he said he was.

"During an interview with the detective in July 2023, Keirans initially insisted that the victim was 'crazy' and 'needed help and should be locked up.'

[UpInArms]

1. That was horrible

Am glad that William was finally able to get his life back.