Dino Guilmette: Family, Boxing, RHORI, and His Rhode Island Court Case
Dino Guilmette is a Rhode Island businessman and former amateur boxer who became widely known through his relationship with Shayanna Jenkins. The two share a daughter, Giselle. Jenkins was previously engaged to late NFL player Aaron Hernandez and is also the mother of Hernandez’s daughter, Avielle. In 2026, Guilmette gained fresh attention through The Real Housewives of Rhode Island and an unresolved criminal case in Rhode Island.
Much of his life has stayed local and private. He has spent years in Rhode Island, trained in boxing gyms, worked for himself, and raised children. His public story now brings together family, sports, reality TV, business ties, and an active court case.
A Life Rooted in Rhode Island
Guilmette has long been connected to Cranston and the wider Providence area. His public work profile lists him as self-employed and places his education at the University of Rhode Island Feinstein Providence Campus.
He also spent years around local boxing gyms. TV Insider reported in 2026 that he trained for years but never built a professional fight record. In 2017, he boxed former professional baseball player Louis Savastano in a local event.
That background supports describing him as a former amateur boxer. He also did some modeling in the early 2000s, according to the same report.
Outside those public details, there is little reliable information about the size of his businesses or his income. His work life appears to have remained mostly local rather than tied to a national company or public brand.
His Relationship With Shayanna Jenkins
Dino Guilmette became known to a wider audience because of Shayanna Jenkins.
Jenkins had been in a long relationship with Aaron Hernandez. They had one daughter, Avielle. Hernandez died in prison in April 2017.
In 2018, Jenkins announced that she was expecting another child. The Boston Globe later identified Guilmette as the father. Their daughter was born at a Rhode Island hospital on June 16, 2018.
The child was later identified as Giselle Guilmette. She joined a blended family that already included Avielle and another daughter Guilmette said he had from an earlier relationship.
At the time of Giselle’s birth, he spoke publicly about his excitement over becoming a father again. He said the baby would grow up with two sisters.
The couple has kept most details of their relationship private. Major outlets have linked them as partners and as the parents of Giselle. A clearly documented public marriage record has not been widely reported.
The Aaron Hernandez Connection
Dino Guilmette is sometimes linked directly to Aaron Hernandez beyond their shared connection to Jenkins. One repeated claim says the two men played college football together at the University of Florida.
The Boston Globe reported in 2018 that it could not confirm that claim.
The verified family connection is simpler. Hernandez and Jenkins had Avielle together. Guilmette later had Giselle with Jenkins.
There is no reliable public record showing that Guilmette and Hernandez were college teammates.
Fatherhood and a Blended Family
Fatherhood is one of the few parts of Guilmette’s private life that he has discussed in public.
He has two known daughters. Giselle is his child with Jenkins, while he said he already had another daughter from a previous relationship before Giselle was born.
Jenkins also has Avielle from her relationship with Hernandez. That created a blended family in which Giselle grew up with two older sisters.
Public posts over the years have shown Jenkins with her daughters, but the adults have not shared many details about their day-to-day family life. Guilmette has also stayed far less visible than many people connected to celebrity stories.
Boxing Was Part of His Local Identity
Boxing helped shape Guilmette’s public image before reality TV or court coverage brought him wider attention.
He trained in Rhode Island gyms for years and took part in local bouts. He did not have a professional record, according to reporting cited by TV Insider.
That distinction matters because his name is sometimes paired with the word “boxer” without context. He had real experience in the sport, but his public record fits amateur boxing rather than a professional career.
The 2017 bout with Savastano is one of the clearer examples of that local boxing background.
Why RHORI Brought His Name Back Into View
Dino Guilmette appeared in the orbit of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Rhode Island through his friendship with Liz and Gerry McGraw.
Liz described him as a very close friend and compared their bond to a brother-and-sister relationship. She denied claims that the two had an affair.
Kelsey Swanson also discussed a past relationship with him during the show’s first season.
Those connections introduced Guilmette to viewers who may never have followed the earlier coverage around Jenkins. They also placed him inside a local Rhode Island social circle that became part of the series.
His appearance on the show did not make him a main cast member, but it gave his name a new audience in 2026.
The Rhode Island Criminal Case
The most serious part of Guilmette’s current public life is a criminal case in Rhode Island.
Charges were filed in 2022 after a Rhode Island State Police investigation. Public reporting has described charges involving drugs, conspiracy, perjury, and fraud.
Police documents also contained allegations about drug activity and organized crime connections. Those statements remain allegations. They are not findings of guilt.
The case was still active in 2026.
In June, Guilmette rejected a plea offer that would have allowed him to plead guilty to two counts involving Lorazepam. Reporting on the hearing said the remaining charges would have been dropped and the proposed sentence would have involved probation rather than prison.
He rejected the offer.
His attorney, John Calcagni, said Guilmette maintains his innocence and wants the case decided at trial.
That means the criminal charges were still unresolved. No final guilty or not-guilty verdict had been entered in the public court material available through the summer of 2026.
Where the Case Stood in Summer 2026
The court record shows the case continuing after the rejected plea offer.
A Rhode Island Superior Court schedule for July 28, 2026 listed State of Rhode Island v. Dino Guilmette. The hearing concerned a motion for disclosure.
The defense has also challenged parts of the evidence in the case, including information used to obtain a wiretap. The state has opposed efforts to exclude that evidence.
These disputes are part of the normal pretrial process. They do not decide guilt or innocence on their own.
A Separate Mortgage Dispute
Guilmette was also involved in a civil case that reached the Rhode Island Supreme Court in 2025.
The dispute concerned a North Providence property and a mortgage agreement. Court records show that he sold the home in 2022 and later challenged a fee tied to the loan.
He argued that the mortgage company had charged him more than $40,000 too much.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled against him on July 2, 2025, leaving the lower court’s decision in place.
That case was a civil contract dispute. It was separate from the criminal charges filed in 2022.
His Link to the Toscan Social Club
Rhode Island business records have also linked Guilmette to the Toscan Social Club in Providence.
State filings listed him as a vice president of the nonprofit social club. The organization’s filing described social and community purposes, including work involving neighborhood children.
The club later appeared in police documents connected to the criminal investigation.
His position with the organization is part of the business record. Any claims about illegal activity remain part of the criminal case and should not be treated as proven facts.
Work and Net Worth
Dino Guilmette is commonly described as a businessman, but there is limited public detail about his companies or annual income.
His work profile identifies him as self-employed. Court records show that he has owned property in Rhode Island, and state filings connect him with the Toscan Social Club.
Those records give a useful outline of his work and business ties, but they do not establish a reliable personal net worth.
Specific dollar figures published on biography sites are not supported by public financial records, so an exact net worth cannot be confirmed.
Life Today
As of 2026, Dino Guilmette remains based in Rhode Island and is known publicly through several parts of his life.
He is the father of Giselle with Shayanna Jenkins. He has another daughter from an earlier relationship. He spent years in amateur boxing and later appeared around the cast of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island.
His criminal case remains the most important unresolved part of his public story. He has rejected a plea deal, maintained his innocence through his attorney, and continued toward trial.
Away from those headlines, most details of his family life and daily work remain private. That has been true for much of his adult life, even when people around him became nationally known.
For another carefully sourced profile of a private person linked to a well-known public figure, read our Ingrid Quinn profile next on LakewoodScoop.co.uk.