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CEDAR RAPIDS — A federal judge Friday called a former University of Iowa IT systems lead, who stole a California man's identity 35 years ago, "callous and ruthless" for his "manipulation of the criminal justice system," which led to the other man being imprisoned and committed to a mental hospital. U.S.
District Chief Judge C.J. Williams on Friday sentenced Matthew David Keirans, 58, of Hartland, Wis.
, to 12 years in prison on charges of aggravated identity theft and making a false statement to a credit union. Keirans pleaded guilty to both charges last year. In court, the judge said Keirans sought the incarceration of William "Bill" Donald Woods, 56, of California, in 2019, telling authorities that he was the "real" Donald Woods and that the California man had stolen his identity when they were both homeless and working as hot dog cart vendors in Albuquerque, N.
M., in 1988. Woods was charged and wrongfully prosecuted in California for grand theft as a result of Keirans' manipulation of the criminal justice system, Williams said.
The judge cited the investigative work by University of Iowa police Detective Ian Mallory in untangling who was the real "California Bill," as Mallory dubbed him, in this stranger-than-fiction identity theft case that has spanned more than three decades. The judge ordered Keirans to pay a $10,000 fine and serve five years of supervised release .