The Thunder Bay staff sergeant convicted of breach of trust and obstruction for “militantly illegal police conduct” will do time behind bars.

On Wednesday, Justice Michael Block sentenced Thunder Bay Police Service staff sergeant Michael Dimini to three years incarceration for breach of trust and two years for obstruction, which will be served concurrently. The judge described the unusually punitive sentence for a police officer in Canada as ‘deterrence’ meant to set an example for other officers.

Dimini’s counsel Michelle O’Flaherty, who argued for a house arrest sentence of 15 to 18 months, says the officer intends to appeal both his conviction and his sentence.

The charges against Dimini stemmed from a November 24, 2020 incident in which the northside sergeant led a group of four officers in a warrantless entry to a southside apartment, seeking to retrieve stolen property belonging to his father-in-law.

The television posted for sale on Facebook marketplace was retrieved but the stolen tools were not in the apartment. The 46-year-old sergeant forced his way in over the objection of the tenant that he didn’t have a warrant, ordered her arrested for the stolen television and illicit drugs officers discovered on the scene, arrested other occupants on outstanding warrants, and “trashed” the apartment, tipping over drinks and furniture.

Block said the warrantless entry was “personal” and “without a shred of reasonable or probable grounds, or anything resembling a lawful basis.” He found that Dimini retroactively concocted a rationale of “fresh pursuit” after the fact, to justify how he engaged in “profane verbal abuse” of the occupant. When he couldn’t find the stolen tools, he “intensified his misconduct” to punish those he thought responsible for stealing from his family members.

“Admission to a colleague that it was, ‘probably a Charter [of Rights] breach but it’s not a big deal,’ indicates he was aware and simply indifferent to the illegality of this act,” Block said today in court.

After fellow officers questioned the entry’s legality, Dimini doctored a subordinate officer’s occurrence report without that person’s knowledge or consent.

The apartment’s tenant read her victim impact statement on Tuesday, describing a vulnerable period of her life when she was surviving addiction and an abusive relationship. Although her life has stabilized, the public notoriety, unstable employment, physical and psychological impacts of that day have followed her.  

“The police knew how vulnerable I was and still did this to me. The risk this put me in was immediate and long-lasting,” she told the court.

“I can’t have a police car drive up behind me. I have to turn off on the side streets because of the anxiety I experienced. I shouldn’t feel this way. I was always taught to call when I needed them and trust that they would help to keep me safe. Where there should be trust, it is negative, distrustful, fearful. I would rather go through something on my own than call for help from the police.”

O’Flaherty argued incarceration would interrupt the progress Dimini had made in his struggles with depression, alcohol, and post-traumatic stress. Dimini broke down in a statement he gave on Tuesday.

“I’d like to apologize to everybody. I’ve had a lot of time to think about this. It has been a pretty devastating part of my life. Obviously, it has impacted other people as well,” Dimini said. “I’m sorry. It’s obviously something I wish I could turn time back and adjust but unfortunately, I cannot – and here we are today. I will never, ever engage in any type of this behaviour ever, ever again.”

Thunder Bay Police Service spokesperson Tracie Smith confirms that Dimini has tendered his resignation but said he remains a TBPS employee. The TBPS website still lists the officer as facing two charges of discreditable conduct under the Police Service Act. They’re scheduled to be heard on June 4.

For more background on this case see Ricochet’’s coverage of Dimini’s conviction from February, and the final episode of the Canadian Screen Award-winning “Thunder Bay” docu-series on Crave.

Jon Thompson is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter based in Thunder Bay. Contact him with tips and story ideas at Jon@ricochet.media.