Steered by two U.S. Marshals, former University of Iowa Health Care administrator Matthew Keirans hobbled into the courtroom Friday, arms crossed and in shackles to face the final chapter of an intricate identity scheme spanning almost his entire adult life.
Sitting down in the U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, Keirans gestures to his attorney, Christopher Nathan with a smirk, his sentencing underway. Since 1988, Keirans led a productive life, obtaining a high-paying job at UIHC, marrying, and raising a son, all while living under the stolen identity of William Woods, a sporadically transient man who Keirans had briefly worked with at a hot dog stand in New Mexico.
Meanwhile, as Keirans thrived under Woods’ name, the real William Woods walked a much darker path having been jailed, hospitalized, and subjected to psychotropic drugs against his will all for insisting he was the victim of identity fraud when nobody believed him.
“It starts way back when, and it is a tragedy, but it is no tale. It’s true,” Federal Prosecutor Timothy Vavricek said.
After more than 30 years of living a facade, Keirans was sentenced to 12 years in prison for what presiding Judge C.J. Williams called a “unique, unusual, and egregious act” as Keirans was proven to have weaponized the justice system to ensure Woods was not believed and Kerians’ lie was not exposed.
“The defendant continually and doggedly worked to make sure the victim was prosecuted,” Williams said.
Williams said that if it was not for UIPD Detective Ian Mallory, the injustice against Woods may have never seen the light of day.
UI investigation into Matthew Keirans
Woods first tried to raise alarms on Aug. 20, 2019, when he went into an LA national bank branch with concerns about mysterious debt tied to his name and bank account. He attempted to close the account that had amassed $200,000 worth of debt.
But after failing to answer the security questions on the account created by Keirans, the bank manager called the LA Police Department, who contacted Keirans to validate his identity. Keirans said Woods was “crazy” and was trying to steal his identity. To prove this, Keirans faxed false identifying information including a social security card, driver’s license, and Kentucky birth certificate.
Once Keirans convinced the police that he was the real William Woods, he decided to press charges against Woods for identity theft, sparking a 428-day sentence in jail along with 147 days in a mental hospital where he was ordered by the California justice system to take psychotropic drugs.
“I went to jail for nothing,” Woods said. “For being myself.”
In 2021, Woods pleaded no contest to a felony charge of identity theft and got out on “time served.” Still adamant to discover who stole his identity, Woods discovered Keirans’ address in Hartland, Wisconsin, through credit reports. Once he had the address, Woods found out Keirans worked at UIHC and filed a complaint to their HR department, which ended up on the desk of UIPD Detective Ian Mallory.
Mallory said Friday he knew one of the supposed William Woods was a victim of a crime, but he wasn’t sure who. But, before he could gather evidence, Mallory said UIHC’s HR department contacted Keirans about the complaint they received, leading him to contact Mallory several times advocating his innocence and pleading for Mallory’s help.
“That statement [from Keirans] quite literally motivated me to find out what’s true to help Matthew Keirans,” Mallory said. “Turns out I helped Mr. Woods.”
After requesting identifying documents from Keirans including a birth certificate, Mallory noticed a discrepancy where Keirans had the wrong middle name on his birth certificate than what he had been using.
“It was obviously a gigantic red flag,” Mallory said.
Mallory knew from that point he needed DNA to determine who was the real William Woods. Working with detectives from police departments in both California and Kentucky, Mallory obtained DNA samples from the real Woods, his father, and Keirans after executing a search warrant.
When the DNA results came back, it was the first confirmation that Woods had been telling the truth all along. Now, Mallory was faced with confronting Keirans who was adamantly holding on to his innocence.
“When Matthew Keirans realized I had the DNA that I had, he crumbled and succumbed,” Mallory said.
Keirans confessed to his crimes on July 17, 2023, nearly seven months after the report was filed to UIHC. Keirans was arrested and subsequently charged with false use of a birth certificate, false identification, forgery, and insurance fraud in local court.
He eventually pleaded guilty to false use of a birth certificate and insurance fraud and got two to five years probation and a fine in August, according to court documents. On Aug. 29, 2023, a federal criminal complaint was filed against Keirans.
On April 1, 2024, Keirans pleaded guilty to one count of falsifying loan and credit applications and one count of falsifying identification documents. This led to Friday’s sentencing, exactly two years to the day after Mallory received the initial complaint.
Addressing the court, Keirans apologized for the hurt he caused with the notable omission of Woods himself.
“I can’t change the past, I’d like to apologize,” Keirans said. “Today, I can say I’m a better person than I was yesterday.”
A life of deceit
Keirans was born in California in 1968 and lived with an adoptive family. According to Judge Williams, Keirans stole money from his adoptive parents during this time, resulting in a forgery charge. But, Keirans’ early life remains mostly a mystery.
At Friday’s sentencing, Judge Williams alluded to a possibly tumultuous childhood but emphasized that much of that information came from self-reporting.
“Candidly, it’s hard to believe anything the defendant has said,” Williams said.
From 1985 to 1988 Keirans was arrested under his own name in California, Kentucky, and New Mexico for unknown charges. Judge Williams said during sentencing he believes these run-ins were the motive for Keirans to steal Woods’ identity.
“The motivation for the initial theft of the victim’s identity seems obvious to the court,” Williams said.
By 1988, Keirans crossed paths with Woods for the first time, where Woods said Keirans stole his wallet containing the necessary identification items for Keirans to begin his deceit. But Keirans’ run-ins with the law did not end with his new identity.
Between 1991 and 1993, Keirans was arrested under Woods’ name in California, Idaho, and Oregon, according to the UIPD.
In 1994, Keirans, as Woods, married Nancy Zimmer and had a child. For the next 18 years, Keirans’ criminal life took a backseat as he held multiple positions eventually landing him in a high-level administration role at UIHC in 2013.
According to an April 2024 release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Kerian’s access to UIHC’s system architecture was “the highest it could be,” and that he “was the key administrator of critical systems.”
“He had the keys to the kingdom,” Vavricek said of Keiran’s position with UIHC.
While Keirans did have access to critical infrastructure, his attorney argued the notion that Keirans misused that power was a red herring. He argued Keirans led a good life without maliciousness, albeit under a false name, marking the final defense Keirans had.
One last defense
Keirans’ attorney, while stating his empathy for unhoused people, argued Woods not filing a police report and going to the bank showed his intention to steal Keirans’ money in the bank accounts.
Nathan further argued he was incarcerated due to his own actions, and given psychotropic drugs due to his own delusions, separate from the identity theft.
“When someone is mentally ill and they are given medication to treat their mental illness, it’s not an injury,” Nathan said.
He attributed any wrongdoing to the missteps of the LA police and district attorney’s office.
“Mr. Wood’s homelessness and mental illnesses were not caused by Mr. Keirans,” Nathan said. “The LA DA’s office is the primary actor responsible for what happened to Mr. Woods.”
Addressing the court, Nathan argued Keirans lived his adult life as an honest, hardworking, family man. He just did so with someone else’s name.
“Maybe Keirans’ life was a lie,” Nathan said. “But a good lie all the same.”
Nathan conceded that Keirans should have come clean in 2019 when questioned by the LA Police Department on his identity, which would have resulted in a lesser sentence.
“Before August 20, 2019, Mr. Keirans was mostly good,” Nathan said.
Nathan requested the judge give Keirans a sentence totaling no more than five years and remained adamant that Woods should be held accountable for the crime of grand theft because, as Nathan argued, Woods’ attempt to close the bank account was synonymous with him trying to take the money from the account as well.
The judge disagreed stating that the criminal consequences Woods faced were the direct result of Keirans’ persistence and callousness.
“I flatly reject that the victim committed or attempted to commit any crime whatsoever,” Williams said.
Williams also highlighted how Keirans’ relentless attempts to weaponize the justice system against Woods for a crime he did not commit was an egregious and unprecedented crime.
“That damage he did to the criminal justice system far outreaches or at least equals the injustice he committed to the victim in this case,” Williams said.
Along with 12 consecutive years, followed by five years of supervised release, Williams stated Keirans has the net worth in assets to pay $10,000 in fines and another $10,000 in attorney fees. Williams also ruled that if California pursues Woods to pay any amount of his more than $100,000 in hospital bills from his involuntary stay, Keirans is responsible.
Williams criticized LA’s district attorney for failing to adequately deliver justice in this case. He said it would be a travesty if California pursued restitution from Woods for his hospital bills.
“If California has any sense they will drop the restitution amount,” Williams said. “California authorities already have enough egg on their face.”
Justice served
Woods said he was more than satisfied with Keirans’ sentence, believing justice was served in his case.
“The truth is known, the truth is let out,” Woods said. “And the truth is important.”
Woods said Mallory was the first person in the criminal justice system who believed that truth. Moments after Keirans’ sentencing, Mallory spoke with Woods, meeting with him in person for the first time since the beginning of the investigation.
Mallory said he listened to Woods because he believes all investigations should be conducted thoroughly, without bias, and following the evidence to the end. He said he was honored to bring a voice to a member of a vulnerable community.
“It doesn’t matter if you have $6,000 to your name or $6 to your name. You still have your name,” Mallory said. “Matthew Keirans took that away.”
Moving forward with his life, Woods said he’s no longer homeless and is working a landscaping job in New Mexico. He said the home he is living in is from his former boss at the hot dog cart more than 30 years ago, symbolizing a full circle moment.
“I’m not the criminal here,” Woods said. “I’m the person who’s working, trying to do good in my life.”