The gender-fluid deputy assistant secretary of the Biden administration’s Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition faces 10 years imprisonment. Sam Brinton is accused of stealing luggage valued at greater than $3,600 from an airport carousel.
The MIT graduate was first arrested in connection with luggage stolen from a Minneapolis-St. Paul airport baggage carousel on September 16. The blue roller bag he allegedly stole from a passenger arriving on a plane from New Orleans was reportedly a valuable designer item worth approximately $2,300.
Reports of Brinton’s arrest for the Minnesota luggage theft prompted a Las Vegas, Nevada, detective to review a similar case that had been closed. Police were unable to identify the individual captured on surveillance video poaching another passenger’s suitcase.
A tourist from Washington, D.C., reported a missing bag upon arrival at Harry Reid Airport in Las Vegas July 6, according to a Fox News report. Law enforcement review of airport security camera footage noticed “”a white male adult wearing a white T-shirt with a large rainbow colored atomic nuclear symbol design” take luggage that matched the victim’s missing bag.
The officer who months earlier closed the Las Vegas case “immediately recognized” Brinton as “the suspect pertaining to the case.”
Investigators confirmed that Brinton traveled on the same July 6 flight to Las Vegas as the victim, the report added. They further found an Instagram post with the federal energy official wearing the same rainbow-colored atomic symbol shirt in a selfie.
“Brinton demonstrated several signs of abnormal behavior while taking the victim’s luggage which are cues suspects typically give off when committing luggage theft,” the Vegas detective wrote in his report, which was obtained by Fox News. “Specifically, Brinton pulled the victim’s luggage from the carousel and examined the tag.”
The declaration concluded probable cause existed that Brinton committed grand larceny with intent to deprive the owner permanently of property valued at $3,670. Grand larceny of items valued at greater than $3,500 is considered a Category B felony in Nevada. The maximum penalty if convicted is 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
A warrant for Brinton’s arrest was issued Thursday.
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