Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

INDIANAPOLIS – Patrick Hancock, 42, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, on December 6, 2021, employees at a Costco in Avon called police 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.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana; Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Columbus Field Division; and Police Chief Sean Stoops, of the Avon Police Department; made the announcement.

ATF investigated the case in conjunction with the Avon Police Department. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. As part of the sentence, Judge Pratt ordered that Hancock be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following his release from federal prison.

U.S. Attorney 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. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.