By Jonathan D. Silver – September 22, 2015
Daniel P. Davis (photo edited via 21cpw)
But the postal service refused to provide any details about the leave of Daniel P. Davis, 50, of Canonsburg.
Spokeswoman Karen L. Mazurkiewicz would not say whether Mr. Davis was being paid his $105,000 salary, if his leave was voluntary or forced, or when it began. She also would not say whether Mr. Davis’s leave was pending the outcome of criminal charges filed against him by the Allegheny County district attorney’s office.
Mr. Davis’s attorney, Joseph J. Chester, declined comment this afternoon.
Detectives with the DA’s office accused Mr. Davis of intimidating or threatening to kill or ruin four postal service employees who watched him open other people’s mail in a quest for drugs, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
He is charged with obstructing administration of law or other government function and four counts each of intimidation of witnesses or victims, criminal coercion and official oppression.
Mr. Davis was under investigation by the postal service Office of Inspector General, which has declined comment. Also declining comment was the U.S. Attorney’s Office, despite the fact that the affidavit supporting charges against Mr. Davis claims that he broke federal law by opening mail.
As Pittsburgh postmaster, Mr. Davis oversaw 40 postal facilities and about 2,100 employees. Ms. Mazurkiewicz confirmed that Mr. Davis had the ability to discipline, transfer, suspend or fire employees, indicating that employees had reason to fear that he had the power to act on any threats he might have made.
Deborah Gless is currently filling in for Mr. Davis as the Pittsburgh postmaster. A postal service news release in May referred to her as acting postmaster.
Mr. Davis faces a preliminary hearing Sept. 30.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette