Pittsburgh postmaster accused of opening packages in search of drugs, threatening employees

The top postal official in Pittsburgh went from post office to post office, opening mail looking for drugs and threatening employees that if they told anyone, they would find out, “I'm the most ruthless (expletive) you'll ever meet,” according to a criminal complaint made public Tuesday.

Pittsburgh Postmaster Daniel Paul Davis, 50, of Canonsburg is charged with official oppression, criminal coercion and witness intimidation, according to detectives with the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office.

According to the complaint, filed Thursday but initially blocked in court records from public view, numerous employees saw Davis open Express Mail packages and examine the contents.

Davis could not be reached for comment. It was not clear whether he had retained an attorney, as court records were not available Tuesday afternoon.

Davis was investigated by the federal Office of the Inspector General and detectives with the District Attorney's Office.

A spokesperson for the inspector general referred questions to District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. Davis' employment status could not be determined.

Zappala noted that there could be a separate federal investigation into the mail-opening and whether Davis kept any of the drugs or money he might have found. Zappala said he is charging only the witness intimidation part of the case, which is a state-level crime.

“Ostensibly, he was going to branches to introduce himself, but we believe that, more accurately, he may have been assessing which personnel were afraid of him. He was looking for people he could intimidate,” Zappala said.

Davis was named acting Pittsburgh postmaster on Feb. 1, 2014, and appointed permanently six months later. He was hired by the Postal Service in 1997.

He worked as postmaster in Toledo, Ohio, before being transferred to Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh postmaster's duties include overseeing more than 40 postal facilities, supervising managers and overseeing daily operations.

There is little on Davis' criminal record. He was charged with fraud in Washington County, but the charge was withdrawn in May. A summary charge of disorderly conduct in Washington County was moved to non-traffic court, and Davis pleaded guilty. The circumstances of the charges are unclear.

Donna Clay, a postal employee since 2013, told county investigators that she saw Davis open an Express Mail package in August 2014 in the East Liberty post office. Police said Davis called the employee in September 2014 and warned her against talking with investigators. He instructed her to watch for possible drug shipments from Texas, California, Arizona and Washington.

According to the complaint, “(Davis) then told her, ‘I'm a (expletive). The last person who crossed me is no longer here.' ”

Zappala said Davis would call post offices looking for packages with specific tracking numbers, so he might have had a co-conspirator or knowledge of which packages contained drugs or money. Failing that, Zappala said, Davis would take packages out of the Express Mail bins and use Google to determine whether the return address was a legitimate, occupied address or a bad address likely used for drugs or money.

Under the law, a bad address isn't sufficient reason to conduct a search, Zappala noted.

Davis told Mavin Parker, a post office supervisor of customer service, that employees needed to be concerned with packages from California and other states, police said. When Parker asked Davis how he knew that, Davis allegedly replied, “Where I came from, this is what we did.”

Davis later threatened Parker, telling her, “You don't know what I am capable of. I'm telling you not to talk to anyone.”

According to police, Transportation Manager Dwayne Mayo said he saw Davis take a large Express Mail package from the East Liberty post office into an office and open it; it contained several sealed coffee bags full of drugs.

Davis told Josh Francis, employed by the post office for five years, to call the postal inspector — something Zappala said Davis could have done to give his actions an air of legitimacy.

Police said Davis later called Mayo and told him, “I'm the most ruthless (expletive) you'll ever meet. Don't cross me.” Davis told Mayo not to tell anyone about the phone call.

Employees named in the complaint could not be reached for comment.

Megan Guza is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.