Sam Brinton, the embattled former senior Department of Energy (DOE) official, was able to escape jail time earlier this week in a grand larceny case dating back to July 2022.
According to Clark County, Nevada, criminal court records, Brinton was ordered to pay $3,670.74 to the victim in the case and $500 in additional fees including a criminal fine. Clark County Judge Ann Zimmerman then handed Brinton a 180-day suspended jail sentence, a sentence that doesn't need to be served, and ordered Brinton to "stay out of trouble."
Zimmerman also determined Brinton was guilty of theft of an item with the value less than $1,200. Earlier, Brinton pleaded "no contest" to the charges, waiving the right to a trial.
In early December, Las Vegas prosecutors charged Brinton with grand larceny of an item valued between $1,200 and $5,000. Police accused Brinton of stealing a suitcase with a total estimated worth of $3,670 on July 6 at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The bag contained jewelry valued at $1,700, clothing worth $850 and makeup valued at $500.
A Las Vegas detective wrote in a police report related to the incident that a woman traveling from Washington, D.C., to Las Vegas on July 6 reported one of her checked bags missing shortly after the incident.
Police then reviewed security camera footage and observed "a white male adult wearing a white T-shirt with a large rainbow colored atomic nuclear symbol design" removing baggage that matched the victim's description of her missing bag before quickly exiting the airport. However, following a brief investigation, detectives closed the case after they were unable to identify the suspect.
FEMALE FASHION DESIGNER ALLEGES SAM BRINTON WORE HER CLOTHING THAT DISAPPEARED FROM AIRPORT IN 2018
In late November, however, after it was reported Brinton had been accused of a separate airport theft in Minnesota, investigators reopened the case. Upon viewing news articles about the Minnesota charges, the officer who had closed the Las Vegas case months earlier "immediately recognized" Brinton "as the suspect pertaining to this case."
"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 lead detective wrote in a December report. "Specifically, Brinton pulled the victim's luggage from the carousel and examined the tag."
"Then placing it back on the carousel, looking in all directions for anyone who might be watching, or might approach," it continued. "Pulling it back off the carousel and demonstrating the same behavior by looking around before walking away with it quickly. Brinton only having checked one piece of luggage, which Brinton had already claimed from the carousel, had no reason to be examining and taking any other pieces of luggage."
SAM BRINTON, NON-BINARY BIDEN OFFICIAL, STOLE JEWELRY WORTH $1,700 IN SECOND LUGGAGE THEFT: POLICE
On Dec. 14, Brinton as booked by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on the outstanding arrest warrant in the case and released on bond. Brinton faced up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine in the case.
Brinton's case in Minnesota is still ongoing with the next hearing slated for April 17.
Brinton made headlines after being appointed to the position that oversees nuclear waste policy at the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy as a non-binary gender-fluid person. Brinton has also posted about being a member of the so-called Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a drag queen group.
The DOE announced on Dec. 12 that Brinton had departed the agency but wouldn't comment on the reason for the departure after the charges in Minnesota and Nevada. A spokesperson for the DOE said the agency wasn't allowed to comment on personnel matters.
