Former Fresno police officer who made plea deal will ‘never work in law enforcement again’

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A former Fresno police sergeant has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI and possession of a controlled substance.

Donald Dinnell pleaded guilty last week, sentenced to less than a month in an adult offender work program. The Fresno County District Attorney’s office told YourCentralValley.com they aggressively prosecuted the former sergeant for betraying the public’s trust. 

“Accused of using some fentanyl and some meth that apparently had been taken from a suspect and was driving a squad car that crashed into a tree,” Criminal Defense Attorney and Legal Analyst Mark King said.

Dinnell agreed to a plea deal in which he’ll serve 20 days in an adult offender work program. He initially faced robbery, illegal possession of methamphetamine and DUI charges.

“A year later, in March of 2023, the felony charges were reduced to misdemeanors. I’m not clear as to why that happened,” King said.

Dinnell’s sentence will begin in October. YourCentralValley.com asked King if there was reason to believe there was any preferential treatment towards Dinnell.

“I will say that his defense attorney, Roger Wilson, did an extremely good job. He’ll certainly never work in law enforcement again,” King said.

The Fresno County District Attorney’s office said they sought a steeper sentence.

“Our prosecutor formally requested an aggravated sentence and stated on the record that Mr. Dinnell abused the trust and authority he held as a police sergeant.”

The DA’s office also says the defense was hoping the plea deal would result in community service instead of the 20-day work program. It’s a sentence that the DA’s office says is, “three to four times higher than what is typical for a misdemeanor DUI.”

But King said this plea deal isn’t out of the ordinary.

“For a standard DUI, 20 days in the adult offender work program is not unusual. A standard misdemeanor DUI,” King said.

Dinnell has not worked for the Fresno Police Department since 2022. 

“Normally, I would expect someone who was a police officer to be treated more harshly by a judge than someone who was not in law enforcement,” King said.

Dinnell was also given a “Watson Advisement” which is a warning to anyone convicted of DUI that if they are under the influence while driving again and cause a fatal crash, they could be charged with murder.