United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 22-2614 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. PATRICK HANCOCK, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. No. 1:22-cr-00055-TWP-MJD-1 — Tanya Walton Pratt, Chief Judge. ____________________

ARGUED NOVEMBER 28, 2023 — DECIDED JUNE 5, 2024 ____________________

Before EASTERBROOK, HAMILTON, and BRENNAN, Circuit Judges. HAMILTON, Circuit Judge. Defendant-appellant Patrick Hancock pled guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. His federal sentence was enhanced on the ground that when he possessed the firearm, he also violated Indiana Code § 35-44.1-2-6, which makes it a felony for a ci- vilian to impersonate a law enforcement officer. Hancock 2 No. 22-2614 appeals his sentence, challenging that Sentencing Guidelines enhancement. We affirm. Evidence supported the district court’s findings that Hancock represented himself to be a police officer by wearing a variety of law enforcement paraphernalia, includ- ing an official-looking badge, gun holster, handcuffs, and a baton. We also reject Hancock’s constitutional challenges to the Indiana law. Indiana Code § 35-44.1-2-6 is a permissible regulation of false speech because it is narrowly tailored to serve the government’s compelling interest in public safety, and it is neither overbroad in its reach nor void for vagueness. I. Factual and Procedural Background Patrick Hancock entered a Costco store in Avon, Indiana on December 6, 2021. Employees at that store had been warned by employees at other Costco stores to be on the look- out for Hancock because he was suspected of passing fraud- ulent checks. When employees spotted Hancock in the Avon store, they noticed that he wore clothing and accessories re- sembling what a police officer might wear. Around his neck, Hancock wore a gold Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) “Special Agent” badge. At his hip he wore a holster with a Glock pistol in it. Hancock’s holster matched the model used by Avon Police Department officers. On his belt, Han- cock had fastened two pairs of handcuffs, a baton, and an ex- tra, loaded 9-mm Glock magazine. He also kept a star-shaped security badge in his pocket. A Costco employee called the Avon Police Department to report the situation. Real police officers arrived. They advised Hancock of his Miranda rights and questioned him about the items he wore. Hancock said that he had bought the DEA No. 22-2614 3 badge online and wore it because it made him feel as though he were a part of something bigger. This was not the first time Hancock had donned attire re- sembling a police uniform. In 2008, Hancock was convicted in state court for a felony for impersonating a police officer. In 2009, he brandished a fake “7-point star special security of- ficer badge” when security guards at a local hardware store stopped him from stealing products. In 2011, Hancock tried to use a fake police badge to obtain free entrance and free drinks at a strip club. Hancock doubled down on his false rep- resentation during this incident: after being kicked out for try- ing to gain free entrance and drinks, Hancock told the strip club’s owner that he was a law enforcement officer and again brandished his fake badge. Most recently, in 2017, Hancock tried to “arrest” a woman working at a different strip club by using a fake arrest war- rant. He arrived at the strip club in a car bearing a U.S. gov- ernment license plate and wore clothing displaying creden- tials, badges, and markin