OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — In a split decision, the Nebraska Supreme Court has determined that simply giving police a made-up name does not constitute felony criminal impersonation.

The ruling Friday came in the case of 43-year-old James Covey, of Holdrege, who was convicted last year of felony criminal impersonation and sentenced 10 to 14 years as a habitual criminal.

Covey was charged after giving a sheriff’s deputy who stopped him in 2013 the false name “Daniel Jones.”

On appeal, Covey argued that because the false name he provided didn’t correspond to an actual person, he should have instead been prosecuted under a lesser misdemeanor charge.

State prosecutors argued that state law doesn’t require the false name to be that of an actual person. But on Friday, the high court disagreed and reversed Covey’s conviction.