Sam Brinton’s Luggage Thefts: Charges, Settlement, and DOE Firing

Sam Brinton, a former U.S. Department of Energy official, was charged in three separate airport luggage thefts between 2018 and 2022, was fired from the DOE in December 2022, and avoided jail in every case through plea deals and diversion programs. The stolen items included jewelry, designer clothing, and custom-made outfits belonging to a Tanzanian fashion designer.

Who Sam Brinton Was at the Energy Department

Brinton began serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition on June 19, 2022.¹ The appointment drew wide attention as a milestone for LGBTQ representation in the federal government, and it made Brinton one of the most visible openly non-binary officials in the Biden administration. That visibility is part of why the thefts, once public, became a national story.

The Las Vegas Theft

The first theft to come to light happened on July 6, 2022, at Harry Reid International Airport. Brinton was in Nevada on a taxpayer-funded trip to the DOE’s Nevada National Security Site; records later obtained by the watchdog Functional Government Initiative put the four-day trip’s cost at roughly $1,951.50.²

Surveillance footage cited in the arrest warrant showed Brinton lifting a gray Away hard-case bag off the carousel after already retrieving their own luggage, examining the tag, setting the bag back down while looking around, then pulling it off again and walking away. Police described the movements as consistent with luggage theft.³ Inside were $1,700 in jewelry, $850 in clothing, and $500 in makeup, for a total value of $3,670.⁴

Prosecutors charged Brinton with grand larceny and issued a warrant. Brinton was arrested on December 8, 2022.⁵

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Theft

Around 4:45 p.m. on September 16, 2022, cameras at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport captured Brinton removing a Vera Bradley roller bag from a baggage carousel, stripping off its identification tag, and leaving the area quickly.⁶ American Airlines records showed Brinton had not checked any bag on the flight in from Washington, D.C. Additional footage placed Brinton at a luxury riverfront hotel in St. Paul with the same bag, and traveling with it again on two later occasions.⁷

Confronted by investigators, Brinton first denied taking the bag, then said they had been tired and grabbed it by mistake, then “got nervous people would think they stole the bag.”⁷ The suitcase and contents were valued at $2,325.⁶ Hennepin County prosecutors filed a felony theft charge in late October 2022.

The Reagan National Theft and the Stolen Designer Wardrobe

The oldest of the three cases dated to 2018. Tanzanian fashion designer Asya Khamsin flew into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for a fashion show and never got her suitcase back. It held custom-made clothing, jewelry, and shoes she valued at roughly $11,000. She filed a police report with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and a claim with Delta Air Lines, and the case went cold.⁸

After the Brinton stories broke in late 2022, Khamsin searched Brinton’s name online and recognized her one-of-a-kind designs in photographs from public appearances, including the 2019 Global Engagement Summit at United Nations headquarters.⁹ “When I googled him, I saw my outfits on him,” she told reporters.⁸ Khamsin filed a new complaint with Houston police in December 2022, which was forwarded to the FBI.

In February 2023, Brinton was charged with grand larceny over the Reagan National theft.¹⁰ In May 2023, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police searched Brinton’s home in Montgomery County, Maryland, and seized clothing designed by Khamsin.¹¹

How Each Criminal Case Was Resolved

Brinton avoided incarceration in all three jurisdictions.

Las Vegas

In April 2023, the grand larceny charge was reduced to misdemeanor theft. Brinton pleaded no contest. The court imposed a 180-day suspended jail sentence and ordered $3,670.74 in restitution, with a direction to stay out of trouble.¹²

Minneapolis-St. Paul

Also in April 2023, Brinton entered an adult diversion program to resolve the Minnesota felony. The program required a mental health evaluation, a written apology to the victim, return of any stolen property, and three days of community service. Programs of this kind are designed for first-time, nonviolent offenders, and successful completion can lead to dismissal of the charges.¹³

Arlington, Virginia

In Arlington General District Court, the grand larceny charge was downgraded to petit larceny, a misdemeanor. Brinton received no jail time and entered an adult diversion program requiring a mental health evaluation, an apology letter, return of the stolen property, and 50 hours of community service assisting the elderly. A spokesperson for Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti said the resolution was “supported by the facts and circumstances of the case as a whole.”¹⁴

The Civil Settlement With Asya Khamsin

Khamsin also sued Brinton in Montgomery County, Maryland, in September 2023. The suit settled in early July 2024. Brinton agreed to pay an undisclosed sum in restitution and provide a formal written apology. According to Khamsin’s legal counsel, Brinton apologized and Khamsin forgave him. The apology letter was not made public; Khamsin considered it “personal, sensitive, sincere, and heartfelt.”¹¹

Firing From the Department of Energy

Once the Minnesota charges became public in November 2022, the DOE placed Brinton on leave, though the agency declined at the time to confirm whether Brinton was still being paid or to acknowledge that the leave was tied to the theft charges.¹⁵ On December 13, 2022, the department confirmed Brinton was “no longer a DOE employee,” citing personnel laws in refusing further detail.¹ Brinton had held the role for less than six months.

1
CNN. Sam Brinton No Longer Employed at Department of Energy
2
Denver Gazette. Sam Brinton Was on Taxpayer-Funded Trip When the Official Allegedly Stole Luggage
3
Yahoo News. Nuclear Energy Official Sam Brinton Accused of Stealing Luggage
4
The Independent. Sam Brinton Luggage Theft Arrest
5
Fox 5 Vegas. Ex-DOE Official Takes Plea Deal in Case of Stolen Luggage at Las Vegas Airport
6
The Independent. Sam Brinton Suitcase Airport
7
Business Insider. Energy Official Sam Brinton Accused of Stealing Airport Luggage Again
8
Fox 26 Houston. Houston Fashion Designer Claims Ex-Biden Official Wore Her Clothes Stolen From a Suitcase
9
New York Post. Asya Khamsin Reunited With Clothes Allegedly Stolen by Sam Brinton
10
New York Post. Sam Brinton Charge Stems From Designer’s Missing Clothing
11
Washington Free Beacon. Ex-Biden Official Sam Brinton Gets Plea Deal
12
Las Vegas Review-Journal. Former DOE Official Accused of Stealing Luggage Pleads to Misdemeanor Theft Count
13
New York Post. Sam Brinton To Undergo Mental Health Evaluation
14
National Review. Non-Binary Ex-Biden Official Sam Brinton Gets Plea Deal With No Jail Time
15
U.S. Representative Andrew Clyde. Letter Demanding Resignation of Sam Brinton