A stolen identity victim was imprisoned, institutionalized and considered "crazy" after pleading his case that a Hartland, Wisconsin, man stole his name and Social Security number when the two worked together at a hotdog cart in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 36 years ago.
Matthew David Keirans, 58, has been living in Hartland for at least the last 15 years but has been using the name William Donald Woods. According to prosecutors, Keirans has been using Woods' name, for insurance, loans, credit, driver's licenses, and even paid taxes in the false name.
Keirans obtained remote employment in the IT department at the University of Iowa Hospital, where he made over $140,000 a year, using Woods' identity. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Monday to two counts related to the identity theft scheme.
In 2019, the real William Woods, who had been homeless at the time, tried to report it to a bank in Los Angeles, but after presenting his real ID and Social Security card to the manager, he failed to correctly answer security questions from the bank and the manager called the Los Angeles Police Department.