Ex-Biden energy official Samuel Brinton pleaded “no contest” to misdemeanor theft Wednesday and agreed to pay one of his victims $3,670 in restitution.
Samuel Brinton is a nuclear engineer who served as deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy at the Department of Energy.
A now-protected page on the Biden Energy Department’s website previously indicated that Brinton identifies “as gender-fluid and use[s] the pronouns they, them, and theirs.”
Brinton was originally charged with grand larceny with a value between $1,200 and $5,000, having stolen a woman’s luggage at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on July 6, 2022.
The luggage, a hard shell suitcase valued at $320, reportedly contained the victim’s makeup, jewelry, contact lenses, and clothing.
A surveillance camera caught the former Biden official in the act, reported KLAS-TV.
According to the warrant, “Brinton pulled the victim’s luggage from the carousel and examined the tag. Then placed it back on the carousel, looking in all directions for anyone who might be watching or might approach. Pulling it back off the carousel and demonstrating the same behavior by looking around before walking away with it quickly.”
Police were reportedly unable to ascertain the identity of their suspect until the Biden official made the news for admittedly stealing another woman’s expensive luggage at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport on Sept. 16.
Investigators were able to match Brinton’s clothing worn at the scene of the Las Vegas crime to apparel he donned in photographs on his Instagram.
He was arrested on Dec. 8 and fired shortly thereafter.
Although Brinton was originally charged with a felony, it was knocked down to a misdemeanor charge as part of his plea deal.
KVVU-TV reported that the Biden official also dodged a prison sentence, receiving instead a 180-day suspended jail term.
While Brinton will skate with only the financial penalty and a requirement for good behavior, he still faces charges pertaining to his alleged theft of another woman’s belongings in Minneapolis.
While he initially denied taking the woman’s belongings, he later claimed he had done so accidentally.
According to the criminal complaint, footage shows Brinton taking “a navy blue hard-sided roller bag” from the carousel.
Although supposedly exhausted, Brinton then “removed the blue bag’s tag and put the bag tag in the handbag they were carrying” and “left the area at a quick pace.”
Investigators reportedly indicated that Brinton was also seen using the woman’s suitcase on at least two other occasions.
Asya Khamsin, a Houston-based fashion designer from Tanzania, claims she is also a victim of Brinton’s.
Khamsin told Fox News Digital that her luggage had been stolen on March 9, 2018, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. She later saw what she believes to have been her stolen, distinctive clothing being worn by the Biden official.
The New York Post indicated that Brinton has not been charged in the case of Khamsin’s stolen clothing.
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