Sentencing reset for former UI IT employee who stole another man’s identity 35 years ago

CEDAR RAPIDS — Sentencing has been reset again for a former University of Iowa IT systems lead who stole a California man’s identity 35 years ago. The sentencing is now scheduled for Jan. 31 in U.S. District Court.

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Matthew David Keirans, 58, of Hartland, Wis., was convicted in April in U.S. District Court of one count of a false statement to a credit union and aggravated identity theft. He faces up to 32 years in prison. The sentencing was previously set for Nov. 22.

Keirans’ lawyer, Christopher Nathan, in a motion filed earlier this month, said he needed more time to prepare for this sentencing, which is more “complex than the average” federal sentencing. There are 12 contested sentencing issues and the discovery in this case is more than 10,000 pages, along with “voluminous audio visual” evidence, Nathan noted.

Preparation for this hearing requires investigation and obtaining documents from other jurisdictions, Nathan added.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Vavricek didn’t resist the continuance.

U.S. District Chief Judge C.J. Williams granted the continuance, but added that “no further continuance will be granted absent truly extraordinary circumstances.”

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According to a plea agreement, Keirans stole the identity of William “Bill” Donald Woods, 55, of California, a homeless man who has been in and out of jail and ended up being committed to a mental hospital because he repeatedly reported that his identity had been stolen. Keirans stole Woods’ identity in 1988 when they worked together at a hot dog cart in Albuquerque, N.M.

University of Iowa Police Detective Ian Mallory took on the case and was determined to unravel which man was the real “California Bill,” as Mallory dubbed him, in this stranger-than-fiction identity theft case that has spanned more than three decades.

Mallory told The Gazette, after Keirans was charged, it took him about a year of digging and investigative work to reveal the truth. He combed through hundreds of police and government documents from Wisconsin, California, Idaho, Colorado, Oregon, Kentucky and Iowa to investigate both men’s backgrounds and criminal histories.

Mallory, who received an award for his work on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, said the investigation showed Keirans took over Woods’ life, stealing his identity to acquire loans, credit and jobs. He even had a son under Woods’ name.

Over the years, Woods made numerous attempts to regain his identity, even contacting local police where Keirans was living in Hartland, Wis. But Keirans again told investigators he was the real Woods and the victim of identity fraud.

In January 2023, when Woods learned Keirans was working remotely from Wisconsin for UI Hospitals in its information technology department, earning more than $100,000 a year, he reported Keirans to the hospital’s security department, and his complaint was referred to the UI Police Department and Mallory started his investigation.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com