A Syracuse woman wound up in jail after she tried to give police a fake name – only to discover that the person she was impersonating was wanted in Oswego County.

Syracuse Police discovered the woman in a location the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office described as “a place she wasn’t supposed to be.”

Police took her into custody when she told them her name was Mariah Bardin – a woman wanted in Oswego County – and then turned her over to the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the woman did not know that her friend, Mariah Bardin, was wanted on a warrant.

After she was jailed, Sheriff’s Deputies discovered that the woman is actually 19-year-old Mariah Cantu of Holland Street in Syracuse.

Cantu told investigators that she refused to use her real name because she was already wanted on other warrants.

Cantu was charged with false impersonation and obstruction of governmental administration – both misdemeanors.

She was also wanted on a warrant from the city of Oswego.

After arraignment, she was taken back to the Oswego County jail without bail.

She has two other pending warrants – one through the Fulton State Police barracks, and one in the town of Manlius.

Bardin is still wanted on warrants in Oswego County.

