A native of Roanoke, Virginia, Donnelly studied Law at Northwestern University. In August 1998 he joined the FBI after graduating from Quantico with honors. He began with the Miami, FL field office in Counter Terrorism until he distinguished himself as an investigator and became a highly sought-after agent. In subsequent years, he moved from Miami to Portland in 2000, then to San Diego in 2003. He was promoted to supervisory special agent for the Boston Field Office in 2007 and worked there until 2011. He was then transferred to New York City. (“Prisoner's Dilemma”)