Mr. Dentel was appointed the Inspector General for the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2004. As Inspector General, Mr. Dentel oversees an office whose mission is to detect and deter fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct in CPSC programs and personnel, and to promote economy and efficiency in agency operations. He previously served at the CPSC as the acting Inspector General and Counsel to the Inspector General. He was a charter member of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) and has served this interagency oversight entity in a number of capacities. He currently serves on the Audit, Inspection & Evaluation, and Legislation Committees and as an adjunct instructor for the CIGIE Training Institute.
Before joining the Office of Inspector General, Mr. Dentel served on active duty in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps from 1993 to 2001, and during this period, served at the Contract Law Directorate for the Air Force. There, he advised senior officers responsible for the procurement of millions of dollars of goods and services regarding all aspects of the contracting process, including: fraud prevention, labor law, strategy, source selection, claims, terminations, ratifications, and disputes.
From 1993 to 1998, Mr. Dentel served as an Assistant Staff Judge Advocate for the United States Air Force at Little Rock and Wright-Patterson Air Force Bases, and as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio's, United States Attorney's Office. He prosecuted criminal trials, both trials by courts-martial and trials in Federal Magistrate's Court. He also advised Inspector General, Security Forces, and Office of Special Investigations personnel on evidentiary, investigative, and jurisdictional issues.
After leaving active duty, Mr. Dentel continued to serve in the United States Air Force Reserve, retiring as a Colonel in January of 2025. As a member of the Air Force reserve, he served as the Staff Judge Advocate for the 512th Airlift Wing, the acting Director of the Appellate Defense Division for the Air Force, and the acting Staff Judge Advocate for Eighth Air Force. In his final assignment with the Air Force, he served as the Individual Mobility Augmentee to the Staff Judge Advocate, Headquarters, Air Force Global Strike Command, Barksdale AFB, LA. In that capacity, he oversaw Reserve Forces involvement in all aspects of legal operations at Headquarters Air Force Global Strike Command, two numbered air forces, and 11 wings. In the absence of the active duty Staff Judge Advocate, he served as the senior legal advisor to the Air Force Global Strike Command Commander and headquarters staff and as the Senior Supervisory Attorney to over 250 legal professionals providing legal services to more than 33,700 personnel. Weapons systems assigned to Air Force Global Strike Command include all U.S. Air Force Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and bomber aircraft, UH-1N helicopters, E-4B National Airborne Operations Center aircraft, and the U.S. Air Force NC3 weapons system.
Active in his local community, Mr. Dentel has served as a volunteer in his son’s Boy Scout Troop and chaired his local Library Advisory Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in political science, cum laude, from Eastern Michigan University and a Juris Doctor from University of Michigan Law School. He is admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of Michigan.