Disgraced nuclear scientist Sam Brinton pleaded no contest to stealing luggage from an airport
Former US Energy Department nuclear waste manager Sam Brinton pleaded no contest on Wednesday to charges of stealing a woman’s suitcase from the baggage carousel at a Las Vegas airport last July. He avoided jail time but was given a 180-day suspended sentence.
As part of the plea deal, the felony theft charge was knocked down to a misdemeanor and Brinton, who uses ‘they/them’ pronouns, was ordered to pay $3,670 in restitution to the victim, according to court records seen by the Daily Mail.
The judge also told Brinton to “stay out of trouble,” the Daily Mail reported.
Brinton was caught on camera stealing the luggage after a woman traveling from Washington DC to Las Vegas on United Airlines told officials that the bag she had checked, containing jewelry, makeup, contact lenses, and clothing, had vanished en route.
The footage reportedly shows the nuclear scientist pull the suitcase off the baggage carousel, look at the tag, return it to the carousel and look around in all directions before grabbing it off the carousel again. Following another furtive look around, Brinton can be seen walking off with the suitcase, according to the arrest warrant issued for him in December. Brinton was initially charged with grand larceny, a felony which carries a sentence of between one and ten years, and a fine of as much as $10,000.
He was then placed on leave from the position of deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition at the Department of Energy after he was charged with stealing another suitcase from the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport in September. That case is ongoing.
A Tanzanian fashion designer who lost her suitcase in 2018 while traveling from Houston to Washington DC posted photos last month appearing to show Brinton wearing some of the custom designs that had been in the bag on more than one occasion. Houston police reportedly turned the case over to the FBI after she recognised her clothes on the flamboyant kink advocate.
Brinton’s appointment by President Joe Biden last February was controversial even before the luggage theft allegations. The non-binary nuclear engineer has spoken at universities about the “kink” lifestyle and “pup play,” which involves sexual role-playing relationships with men pretending to be dogs.
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