by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News December 31, 2023
The “it’s hard to look fabulous on a nuclear scientist’s salary” defense seems to be working for Sam Brinton.
The non-binary Biden administration Department of Energy (DOE) official remains free despite being charged with theft of luggage from airports on three occasions.
Brinton, who was deputy assistant secretary of the Energy Department’s office of spent fuel and waste disposition, avoided jail in two criminal cases, while a third criminal case and a related lawsuit remain ongoing.
In December 2022, the DOE announced Brinton had departed the agency but declined to comment on the reason.
In October 2022, police charged Brinton with stealing a traveler’s baggage worth a total of $2,325 from the luggage carousel at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport after flying in from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Sept. 16 of that year.
In early December 2022, Las Vegas prosecutors charged Brinton with grand larceny of an item valued between $1,200 and $5,000.
Police accused Brinton of stealing a suitcase with a total estimated worth of $3,670 July 6, 2022, at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The bag contained jewelry valued at $1,700, clothing worth $850 and makeup valued at $500.
Brinton was on an official taxpayer-funded trip to the Nevada National Security Site in Las Vegas at the time of the Las Vegas theft.
In February 2023, following reports of those two cases, a female Tanzanian fashion designer based in Houston told Fox News Digital that some articles of clothing Brinton had been photographed wearing were in her luggage that she reported missing in Washington, D.C., in 2018.
In May 2023, Brinton was arrested by Maryland and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police officers related to Khamsin’s allegations. Khamsin’s lawyer later confirmed to Fox News Digital that police who executed a search warrant at Brinton’s home discovered Khamsin’s missing clothes and returned them to the designer.
Proceedings in that case have been delayed multiple times, and the next hearing is scheduled for March 2024, according to court filings.
In April 2023, Brinton agreed to enter an adult diversion program during a remote Hennepin County, Minnesota, hearing. Under the adult diversion program, Brinton will be required to have a mental health evaluation, write a letter of apology to the victim, return any stolen property and complete three days of community service.
That same month, Brinton was ordered to pay $3,671 to a victim and $500 in additional fees, including a criminal fine, in the Las Vegas theft. Clark County Judge Ann Zimmerman then handed Brinton a 180-day suspended jail sentence, a sentence that doesn’t need to be served, and ordered Brinton to “stay out of trouble.”
Publishers and Citizen Journalists: Start your Engines