Imagine going to jail for stealing someone’s identity—only to realize it was your identity all along. That’s exactly what happened to William Woods, whose name was taken from him for decades, leading to a bizarre and heartbreaking legal battle.

William Woods, the real one, spent years struggling to prove his identity after a man named Matthew Keirans assumed his name and built a life with it. Keirans used Woods’ identity so convincingly that when Woods tried to reclaim it, he was the one authorities didn’t believe. Woods even found himself behind bars for “stealing” his own identity, a twist that sounds like something out of a movie.

The case finally came to a head in an Iowa courtroom last week, where Keirans was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in this “Kafkaesque” scheme. Prosecutors described how Keirans not only stole Woods’ identity but also manipulated the legal system to silence the real Woods. Judge C.J. Williams called the crime a theft of something “priceless”—freedom.

Woods, who was briefly jailed and even hospitalized against his will, described the ordeal as a nightmare. “I was sent to jail for nothing, for being myself,” he said. For years, he lived on the streets of Albuquerque, selling jewelry to get by, all while fighting to prove he was who he said he was.

This case raises tough questions about the justice system: Who gets believed when your identity is stolen? And what happens when the system fails the very people it’s supposed to protect? For Woods, the answer came too late, but at least now, he’s finally free to reclaim his name—and his life.