Ex-Biden Nuclear Waste Expert Arrested as ‘Fugitive’ for Another Alleged Suitcase Theft

Former Office of Nuclear Energy official Sam Brinton has been arrested in another suitcase theft case—and they are being held as a "fugitive" awaiting extradition.

Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority executed a warrant on Wednesday in Montgomery County, Maryland, "in connection with allegations of stolen property in luggage from Reagan National Airport that was brought to the department’s attention in February 2023," Rob Yingling, spokesperson for the agency, said in an email.

The agency worked with Montgomery County Police to take Brinton into custody on charges of grand larceny. Brinton was arrested at their home in Rockville, Maryland. Jail records list Brinton as a "fugitive from justice."

The case relates to the alleged theft in February of luggage from Reagan National Airport.

Brinton was previously charged in October with stealing a suitcase worth over $2,000 from baggage claim at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport in Minnesota in September. In December, Brinton was accused of stealing a suitcase worth nearly $4,000 from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, in July.

Brinton evaded jail time for both alleged thefts, and has previously been accused by a Houston, Texas-based fashion designer of wearing her designs from a lost piece of luggage in 2018.

Brinton, who was the former deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy, made headlines as the first non-binary, gender-fluid person in federal leadership. They are no longer employed by the Department of Energy.