A thief stole his identity, but nobody believed him. He spent nearly 2 years locked up

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-09/william-woods-identity-theft-social-security-matthew-david-kierans

No paywall link
https://archive.li/96gYB

Nobody believed William Woods.

They didn’t believe someone used his social security number to run up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. They didn’t believe the social security card he himself carried was real.

Above all, no one believed he really was William Woods.

He was arrested for unauthorized use of personal information and spent nearly two years locked up awaiting trial, including more than 100 days in a psychiatric hospital. Woods eventually pleaded no contest in a Los Angeles court to identity theft and false impersonation in exchange for a time-served sentence and immediate release from custody.

Woods had never pretended to be anyone but himself. The problem, it turned out, was that someone had spent decades pretending to be Woods.

Last week, the culprit — Matthew David Keirans — pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a National Credit Union Administration insured institution and aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa.

*snip*