Former postal employee pleads guilty to selling firearm stolen from a parcel

FLORIDA – A former postal employee has pleaded guilty to selling a stolen firearm which she reportedly purloined from the mail, announced the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (USAO).

United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced on Friday that Maisha K. Daniels, 46, of Jacksonville, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.

According to the plea agreement, Daniels worked for the U.S. Postal Service at various times, beginning in 1998. In April 2022, she was assigned to a distribution center in Jacksonville. While it was passing through that facility, a Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol was stolen from a parcel that a licensed firearms dealer had shipped from Nevada to Florida.

Daniels worked on the day that the pistol went missing. The Nevada firearms dealer reported the pistol stolen, and one week later, Daniels reportedly sold it to a firearms dealer in Jacksonville for $250. While conducting the transaction, Daniels is said to have provided her name, address, and cellphone number. A security camera captured an image of her during the sale.

Daniels later agreed to be interviewed by special agents from the U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. She initially denied any knowledge about items being stolen from the postal distribution center and ever owning a firearm, said the USAO.

According to prosecutors, when shown a picture of her at the Jacksonville gun dealer, Daniels eventually admitted that she had stolen a pistol at work. She also admitted to stealing three Coach brand clutch purses.

When the agents searched Daniels’s belongings at work, they allegedly found four bags of THC edibles; a sealed letter bearing postal stamps that was addressed neither to nor from Daniels; a gift box and card, which was also not addressed to her, but instead to a third party; a Coach hat in its packaging; four gift cards; a Coach watch with its original box, and a Coach scarf and its packaging.

Daniels denied stealing the Coach items and claimed they were gifts from other postal employees, the USAO said.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican is prosecuting it.