KCRG Staff report:
A former Iowa City hospital administrator pleaded guilty on Monday to an identity theft scheme that spanned three decades and caused the victim to be falsely imprisoned for nearly two years.
Officials said 58-year-old Matthew Keirans, from Hartland, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty to one count of false statement to a national credit union administration insured institution and one count of aggravated identity theft.
During the hearing, attorneys presented evidence showing Keirans and his identity theft victim worked together at a hot dog cart in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the late 1980′s. Keirans used the victim’s identity for the next three decades, in every aspect of his life, obtaining documents and a Kentucky birth certificate in the victim’s name.
This case is an absolute nightmare. When the victim tried to report the theft of his identity in 2019 to a bank, the bank asked him some security questions he couldn’t answer and then believed the fake documents the identity theft (Kierans) sent them. The real victim was then arrested on felony charges.
The victim continued to maintain throughout the criminal proceedings that he was not Keirans. The California state court judge found the victim not mentally competent to stand trial and ordered them to go to a California mental hospital and to receive psychotropic medication.
The victim then pleaded “no contest” to the felony charges in March 2021. The victim spent a total of 428 days in county jail and 147 days in a mental hospital.
Read more at KCRG. I hope some lawyer will help William D. Woods (the victim) sue everybody involved for what happened to him. This is one of the worst ID theft stories I’ve ever read. Many of us have become somewhat blasé over the years about breaches that involve the theft or potential misuse of identity information. Let this case be a reminder of how serious the consequences can be.
Additional details can be found in the U.S. Attorney’s press release.
Thanks to Joe Cadillic for sending it along.