Sam Brinton, an “openly genderfluid” former Department of Energy official under the Biden administration, will reportedly receive mental health treatment to resolve theft charges from stealing a woman’s luggage.
Brinton was reported to have pleaded guilty to petit larceny, which is a misdemeanor, instead of grand larceny, which is a felony offense, according to the Washington Free Beacon. In 2018, Brinton stole fashion designer Asya Khamsin’s luggage while at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Khamsin came forward in 2023, revealing that she had lost luggage in 2018, and photos of Brinton appeared to show him wearing one of her “custom made” outfits, adding that a lot of the outfits Brinton wore had been in her missing luggage.
In a hearing last week at the Arlington General District Court, state prosecutors reportedly announced that Brinton would “undergo mental health treatment, write a letter of apology, and complete 50 hours of community service helping the elderly,” according to the outlet.
“The resolution we came to is supported by the facts and circumstances of the case as a whole,” a spokeswoman for Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington Country said in a statement. “Unfortunately, since this case remains pending, we are prohibited from commenting further.”
Brinton, an MIT graduate who joined the Biden administration in June 2022, was charged in October 2022 with a felony of stealing a woman’s luggage while at Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) International Airport the month before.
Per Alpha News:
Law enforcement at the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) International Airport were alerted to a missing suitcase in the baggage claim area on Sept. 16. The adult female victim said she flew into MSP on a Delta flight from New Orleans and went to retrieve her checked bag at carousel seven.
Airport records confirmed the navy blue Vera Bradley roller bag arrived a 4:40 p.m. but was missing from the carousel. So law enforcement reviewed video surveillance footage from the baggage claim area and observed Brinton removing a navy blue roller bag from carousel seven, according to a criminal complaint.
The complaint says Brinton removed a luggage tag from the bag, placed it into a handbag he was carrying, and “then left the area at a quick pace.” Brinton arrived at MSP Airport around 4:27 p.m. on an American Airlines flight from Washinton, D.C., but did not check a bag, meaning he had no reason to visit baggage claim, according to the complaint.
In response to accusations that Brinton had stolen a woman’s luggage, the Biden administration placed Brinton on leave.
Brinton was again accused of stealing another woman’s luggage at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, in December 2022. Days later it was revealed that Brinton had been fired.
