United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 21-3245 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. RONALD COLBERT, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. No. 1:18-cr-00395-TWP-DLP-2 — Tanya Walton Pratt, Chief Judge. ____________________

ARGUED SEPTEMBER 23, 2022 — DECIDED NOVEMBER 29, 2022 ____________________

Before RIPPLE, ROVNER, and BRENNAN, Circuit Judges. BRENNAN, Circuit Judge. During a traffic stop, a detective and a police officer worked in tandem to search Ronald Colbert’s vehicle and frisk him, uncovering on his person a brick-shaped package later confirmed to contain a controlled substance. Colbert moved to suppress this evidence, arguing that the frisk violated his constitutional rights. The district court denied the motion, and Colbert entered a conditional guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or 2 No. 21-3245 more of a mixture containing a detectable amount of fentanyl in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a). Colbert reserved his right to appeal the district court’s ruling on his motion to suppress. Before us, Colbert contends that the district court erred in finding that the officers had reasonable suspicion to frisk him. For the following reasons, we affirm. I. Background A. Factual On the evening of November 14, 2018, Detective Dirk Fentz of the Brownsburg, Indiana Police Department was on duty and patrolling the area of US Highway 36 and Ronald Reagan Parkway. He observed a gray Pontiac cross over the white line twice and fail to maintain its proper lane of travel. When the car failed to properly signal a lane change, Fentz activated his emergency lights. The driver took an uncommon amount of time to pull over, in Fentz’s experience. After the vehicle stopped, Fentz approached the passenger side and smelled the odor of marijuana as soon as he reached the window. He asked the driver, later identified as Colbert, to step back to the patrol car so Fentz could write him a warn- ing for the traffic violations. Colbert had to be told to do so additional times before he complied and exited the vehicle. Once outside the Pontiac, Fentz observed Colbert appear to turn back toward his vehicle as if he intended to get back in. As Colbert walked to the patrol car, Fentz saw a bulge in Col- bert’s pant pocket. Once in the patrol car, Fentz noticed that Colbert’s chest was rapidly rising and falling in an exaggerated manner. Col- bert began to talk and asked multiple questions, which was unusual in Fentz’s experience. Because of Colbert’s driving No. 21-3245 3 and nervous behavior, Fentz asked Officer Chad Brandon, also of the Brownsburg Police Department, to assist, and Brandon arrived at the scene shortly thereafter. While sitting next to Colbert, Fentz continued to smell the odor of marijuana (which was corroborated by Brandon when he arrived). When Fentz asked Colbert if there was anything illegal in his vehicle, Colbert responded there was not. Fentz filled out a consent to search form and asked Colbert to sign it. Colbert read and signed the form, giving Fentz permission to search his vehicle. After Brandon arrived, Fentz told Bran- don he had not yet patted down Colbert and that Colbert had consented to a vehicle search. At that time, Fentz also knew that Colbert had a license to carry a firearm. Fentz proceeded to search Colbert’s vehicle, and Brandon patted down Colbert. During Fentz’s search he heard Brandon call his name multiple times, requesting that Fentz come ba