Identity thief whose deception led to his victim’s incarceration gets a 12-year prison term

2025-02-01 06:14:00

Abstract: IT expert Matthew Keirans got 12 yrs for impersonating William Woods. Woods was wrongly jailed; Keirans used his ID for decades, stealing funds.

An information technology expert, Matthew David Keirans, successfully impersonated another person for decades, to the point that the victim, William Woods, was forcibly medicated and imprisoned for identity theft. Last Friday, Keirans was sentenced to 12 years in prison, bringing an end to this shocking identity theft saga.

Keirans, 59, from Hartland, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty last April to federal charges including aggravated identity theft and making false statements to the National Credit Union Administration insurance fund. These charges shocked Keirans' family and friends, who described him in letters to the court as a kind, forgiving, and reliable person. The victim, Woods, stated that Keirans' guilty plea marked the end of his years-long nightmare.

Woods said that Keirans tried to make him look like a criminal. "He deserves every bit of the punishment the judge gave him," Woods said after the sentencing. Court records indicate that Keirans had a difficult childhood, ran away from home at 16, stole a car in San Francisco, and was arrested in Oregon, but never appeared in court. The two met while working at a hot dog stand in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the late 1980s.

Woods recalled that Keirans stole his wallet in 1988 but returned it after Woods threatened to punch him. However, while in possession of Woods' wallet, Keirans used Woods' social security card information to apply for a William Woods driver's license. Woods told the Associated Press, "At that point, he had an ID with my name and his face." There is no record of Keirans using his real name or social security number after 1988. Court documents show that he began living openly as William Woods in 1990.

Over the years, Keirans married and had children as Woods, worked at the University of Iowa Hospital, and used Woods' identity to obtain more than $200,000 (about AUD$320,000) in loans from credit unions in Iowa. Meanwhile, Woods' income was insufficient to file taxes, at around AUD$5,000 per year, but he was not completely unknown. In 2015, YouTube user Yousef Saleh Erakat, also known as FouseyTube, found Woods living on the streets and produced a series of videos documenting his experiences providing Woods with food and paying for motel accommodations, each video receiving over a million views.

Woods used the money Fousey gave him to purchase credit monitoring services and learned that someone had accumulated debt and opened accounts in his name. In 2019, an enraged Woods stormed into a bank in Los Angeles demanding that it stop. "That guy's a fraud," Woods recalled saying. The branch manager asked Woods a series of security questions, but he couldn't answer them because Keirans had set the answers. The bank then called the police. Keirans, who the bank believed to be Woods, told police that no one in California was allowed to access his accounts.

The arrest report stated: "The suspect entered the bank and attempted to access the victim's bank account using the victim's personal identifying information." The real Woods was then charged with identity theft and false impersonation. Keirans' lawyers argued in court filings that Woods was trying to steal thousands of dollars from his client, describing Woods as "a miscreant whose own actions should mitigate any sympathy that might be generated for him." In the court records at the time, Woods was incorrectly identified as Matthew Keirans, misspelling the name of his tormentor. There is no record of how or why authorities identified him as such.

Woods told police the names of his relatives and even offered to call the owner of the hot dog stand to prove his identity. "They wouldn't let me," Woods said. He also stated that the YouTube videos also proved his identity. Because Woods repeatedly questioned the identity imposed on him by authorities, a judge in California deemed him mentally unfit to stand trial and sent him to a state mental hospital, where he was treated with psychiatric medication. Court records show that Woods spent 428 days in county jail and 147 days in the mental hospital. He was released after agreeing to a no-contest plea—the case has since been dismissed. The Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender's Office declined to comment.

After regaining his freedom, Woods began a campaign to restore his identity, filing a series of reports. When he contacted the University of Iowa Hospital, where Keirans was earning more than $100,000 (about AUD$160,000) per year, hospital security called the police. Federal prosecutors said Keirans initially told police that the victim "needed help and should be locked up." But a detective found the birth father listed on Woods' birth certificate and conducted a DNA test to confirm that Woods was his son. "My life is over," Keirans said upon learning the results.

Woods is now back in Albuquerque, where he works in landscaping. He said he plans to seek compensation for his wrongful imprisonment. "My main goal," he said, "is to rebuild my life."