El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini retires after 28 years

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - "This profession never crossed my mind," said Sheriff John D'Agostini as he reflected on his 28 years in law enforcement.

D'Agostini is a 4th generation resident of El Dorado County. He was working in construction as a general contractor and raising turkeys on the family ranch for Foster Farms before turning to a career in law enforcement. They raised 50,000 turkeys a year but found it tough to compete with the large turkey farms that put out numbers closer to one million of the birds.

His father had tried logging, so the younger D'Agostini did as well but quickly found it was not for him. He said a good family friend who was a general contractor suggested he start working in construction. That career took D'Agostini to Old Town Sacramento and Santa Cruz for jobs, but he found his way back to El Dorado County in 1989 to run Fiddletown Construction and build homes. After working through a couple of downturns in the economy he decided it was a tough business to operate when raising three daughters. Not only was construction hard to rely on for a steady income in tough times, but he said it was also tough on his body. His friends and family encouraged him to apply for an opening in the Amador County sheriff's office.

The outgoing sheriff said he put himself through the academy and graduated with a job as a reserve deputy in Amador on August 1, 1994. He worked patrol and was the "city's deputy as he covered the entire northwest end of the county including Plymouth and Amador City, the area of the family farm where he grew up.

His original goal was to work in narcotics and went into investigation and property crimes. He was also the chief deputy coroner in 1999. He moved over to work as the District Attorney investigator and covered everything from bad checks to homicides. In 2007 D'Agostini was in the Amador County narcotics enforcement team, a job that was supposed to last six months, and instead went to 2011 when he started the first of his three terms as El Dorado County sheriff.

"It is a political position but I don't consider myself a politician," said the Sheriff of his job. "I consider myself a peace officer and have a job to do keeping our community as safe as possible."

During his career, there have been many stories he could tell, including ones where he was shot at, as well as almost shooting someone, but he says his biggest accomplishment came in 1996.

David was a young many of about 16 years old who was going down the wrong roads. David's parents asked D'Agostini if he could help David who was skipping school, smoking pot, and hanging around with the wrong crowd. The sheriff was in Amador County at the time and he'd show up at David's house and take him to school in a patrol car. It didn't take long for David to get to school on his own, but it also didn't take long to get back to his old ways.

"About three or four weeks later I found David, got him in the car, and we parked at the fairgrounds in Plymouth," recalls D'Agostini. "David and I had a long, long, talk."

Little did he know the impact that talk had on David's life until 2002.

D'Agostini was working at the fair in uniform when a young man calls his name from behind. It turned out to be David who was with his wife and their baby. David explained they had bought a home and he was working in heating and air conditioning.

"I wanted to thank you for turning my life around," D'Agostini heard from David on that day at the fair.

"Everything else has been great," said the Sheriff. "I am proud of the team and department."

D'Agostini said there has been a challenge of keeping a deputy to protect Tahoma up at Lake Tahoe, something the next sheriff will be handling in future discussions. The cost of living is too high in Tahoma for a deputy to buy a home there, so it is currently covered by on-duty deputies driving there with support from Placer County. The next budget for incoming Sheriff Jeff Leikauf will have a helicopter on it for law enforcement that would be purchased with saved funds, said D'Agostini. He said there are a lot of deputies who are pilots and waiting for the new addition.

He says there is one person he cannot miss talking about.

His wife, Janine.

"I wouldn't be anything without the support of Janine," the Sheriff said. "She's a special lady."

Together they started THRIVE, a support group for El Dorado County Sheriff law enforcement families. THRIVE gives those families the support they need to get through difficult times throughout their careers. Janine spearheads the program and fundraising to make it succeed.

As he retires, Janine will be handing off the program.

Together they also opened their 880-acre family compound to victims of the Caldor Fire. There were up to 150 people sleeping at the ranch at one time. While areas around them were in evacuation warning areas, the ranch has no trees and is wide open, and the commercial turkey operations had ended. The D'Agostini family could be seen preparing meals for those who sought shelter at their ranch and their hospitality was appreciated by the community.

John and Janine are not the only D'Agostinis living on the compound. His two brothers, aunt, and parents are also living there. Their kids and grandkids are nearby - Placerville, the Hangtown Range, and one daughter, who owns the Bombshell Salon, lives at the compound with her husband. In total, John and Janine now have nine grandchildren and he is looking forward to spending more time with them.

So what does a sheriff do when they retire?

"I have 12 years of honey-do items that I've neglected," said D'Agostini.

He'll also be spending time with his chocolate lab "Koda" who is his hunting partner. The dog has also been therapy for the retiring sheriff as he got him the week before Deputy Brian Ishmael was killed by illegal pot growers in 2019.

D'Agostini has a retirement bucket list after the honey-do list: travel with their trailer, a trip to Italy, and a lot of hunting opportunities for veterans, a heritage he wants to protect.