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FILE – In this combination image, undated selfie shows William Woods in Albuquerque, N.M., left, and this undated photo released by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office shows Matthew David Keirans. (William Woods and Johnson County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)
For three decades, Matthew David Keirans pretended to be someone else. He obtained a birth certificate, credit cards and worked as a high-level hospital administrator. He even tricked cops into thinking his victim was the one who stole his identity, forcing the victim into jail and a mental hospital because law enforcement deemed the man crazy.
But thanks to good detective work, Keirans decades-long scheme is over. A federal judge in the Northern District of Iowa sentenced Keirans to 12 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count each of aggravated identity theft and false statement to a national credit union administration, the Department of Justice said Friday.
The scheme started in the late 1980s when he and William Woods worked at a hot dog cart in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Prosecutors say Keirans stole the Woods’ identity and proceeded to use it “in every aspect of life” for the next 30-plus years. He obtained several false documents including a Kentucky birth certificate with Woods’ name on it.
Over the years he applied for — and obtained — loans using the victim’s information, netting some $250,000. In 2013, he became a high-level administrator working at an Iowa City hospital by submitting a fake I-9 form, social security number, date of birth and other identification documents in his Woods’ name while working remotely from his home in Wisconsin.
As Keirans was enjoying life under false pretenses, the then-homeless Woods in August 2019 walked into a Los Angeles bank and insisted someone had been using his credit card to accumulate large amounts of debt. He wanted to close the bank accounts. Unable to answer security questions, bank employees contacted the Los Angeles Police Department. Cops arrested Woods after Keirans convinced them the victim was trying to defraud him. All the while the victim insisted he was Woods. But prosecutors didn’t believe him and he was deemed incompetent to stand trial, according to prosecutors.
The victim ended up pleading no contest to the charges in exchange for being released for time served. In all, he spent over 14 months in jail and nearly five months in a mental facility where he was forced to take psychotropic drugs.
But the tide began to turn for Keirans when Woods called the hospital where the fraudster worked to complain. The hospital, in turn, reported the complaint to the University of Iowa Police Department. Det. Ian Mallory began to unfurl the three-decade scheme. Keirans told Mallory that his victim was “crazy” and belonged in jail, prosecutors said. Undeterred, Mallory continued his investigation and obtained the victim’s DNA that proved he was indeed who he said he was and it was Keirans who was the criminal. With no room to wiggle into more lies, Keirans admitted to the scheme.
“Matthew Keirans spent decades pretending to be someone he was not, all the while knowing that his victim was suffering,” said United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa Timothy T. Duax. “Keirans used his victim’s identity to live his life, obtain loans, and lines of credit. When the victim tried to clear his name of Keirans’ debts, Keirans deliberately and calculatedly lied to police officers and prosecutors in California in order to keep his victim locked up, unable to live his life, and to keep his own secret safe. Today, Keirans has been held responsible for his actions and will spend years in prison.”
In addition to the prison sentence, Keirans must also pay more than $16,000 in fines and restitution.