Patrick Hancock, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Indiana 2022

A 42-year-old Indianapolis man has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for possessing a firearm while impersonating a federal law enforcement officer.

Patrick Hancock, of Indianapolis, was sentenced on December 6, 2021, in the Southern District of Indiana after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, employees at a Costco in Avon called police on December 6, 2021, after observing Hancock in the store wearing a badge with a gun on his person. Store employees had been alerted to be on the lookout for Hancock, who they believed to be travelling to multiple Costco locations and making purchases with fraudulent checks.

Police responded and found Hancock wearing a DEA 'Special Agent' badge around his neck and openly carrying a 9mm Glock pistol in a holster on his hip. Officers also found that Hancock was in possession of a baton and two pairs of handcuffs.

During an interview, Hancock admitted to law enforcement that he purchased the fake DEA badge on a website to feel like part of something bigger.

Hancock is prohibited from possessing firearms because he has been previously convicted of multiple felony crimes over the past twenty years, for offenses including credit card theft, fraud, illegal firearms possession, and false impersonation of law enforcement.

Hancock's most recent felony conviction was for being a felon in possession of a firearm in federal court in the Northern District of Indiana. That case stemmed from a 2017 incident where Hancock posed as a federal law enforcement officer and attempted to arrest an employee of an adult nightclub utilizing a false arrest warrant. Over the course of that investigation, law enforcement officers discovered that Hancock illegally possessed a firearm.

Hancock was sentenced in the Northern District of Indiana to 41 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release.

As part of the sentence, U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ordered that Hancock be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following his release from federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Abhishek S. Kambli who prosecuted this case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdin/pr/repeat-felon-sentenced-4-years-federal-prison-possessing-firearm-while-impersonating