Featured Image Credit: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa / KGAN
Topics: Crime, Health, Life, Mental Health, True crime, US News, Money
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Crime, Health, Life, Mental Health, True crime, US News, Money
A man has revealed how he's started rebuilding his life again after having his identity stolen for over 35 years.
On April 1, former University of Iowa hospital employee Matthew Keirans, 58, pleaded guilty and was convicted on one count of false statement to a National Credit Union Administration insured institution and one count of aggravated identify theft - he now faces a potential combined sentence of up to 32 years in prison.
However, for the victim of his crimes, 55-year-old William Woods, this conviction marks the next step in what has already been a complicated journey which saw Woods himself suspected, arrested and sectioned.
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In 1988, Keirans and Woods both worked at a hot dog cart in Albuquerque, New Mexico when one day, Woods' wallet went missing and the pair nearly came to blows, but Keirans eventually handed the item back.
At the time, Woods checked to see if anything was missing, but nothing appeared to have been taken - his birth certificate and Social Security card still tucked inside and so he 'didn't think anything of it,' he told The LA Times.
However, from that year on, Keirans didn't use his name, own Social Security number or date of birth on any records.
He started to use Woods instead - from getting ID cards, opening bank accounts, and even having a child who took on Woods' surname, too, as per Keirans' plea agreement.
But when Woods realised someone was using his credit card and had racked up severe debt in his name, he wasn't believed.
Instead, the real Woods was charged with two felonies of identity theft and false impersonation himself and his behavior during the trial even led him to be sectioned to two psychiatric hospitals before being convicted.
Woods plead 'no contest' and receiving a two year sentence - credited with the prior days he spent in jail in hospital.
In the years which followed, Woods desperately fought to have his voice heard and believed, but it wasn't until 2023 when Iowa Police Department Detective Ian Mallory confirmed Woods' true identity with a DNA test.
And the 55-year-old has since opened up about how he's rebuilding his life.
Woods moved back to Albuquerque last year and at the time of writing, is reportedly staying with a friend in their van in El Paso.
He's argued that he was 'put in jail on purpose' as a result of the banker allegedly conspiring with members of the LAPD, however, these claims have not been substantiated.
When asked about Wood's allegations, an LAPD spokesperson told The Times that an investigation was ongoing and that 'additional information regarding this case is not currently available'.
UNILAD has contacted the LAPD for additional comment.
Woods also told The Times that he's not sure what job role he's going to pursue, resolving: "What’s next for me? I guess I have to regain all my stuff back and just rebuild what I was."