A former senior official for the Biden administration who has been charged with stealing luggage from airports has now been ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.
Sam Brinton, who identifies as nonbinary, was employed by the Department of Energy as an expert on nuclear waste policy.
Brinton was terminated after he was charged in two states for stealing luggage from the carousel.
He took baggage with a total value of $2,235 from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport on Sept. 16 after traveling to the airport from Washington, D.C. Brinton was charged with felony theft of a movable property without consent, which is punishable by up to five years behind bars and a $10,000 fine.
The mental health evaluation is part of an adult diversion plan Brinton agreed to enter during a remote hearing held by the court in Hennepin County, Minnesota. As part of the plan, Brinton is required to write a letter of apology to the victim, return any stolen property, and complete three days of community service.
The 35-year-old is not expected to be sent to jail in connection to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport theft and the case will likely be dismissed.
A judge in Clark County, Nevada ordered Brinton to pay $3,670.74 to a victim whose luggage he stole from the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas in December. According to police, the bag contained $1,700 worth of jewelry, $850 worth of clothing and $500 worth of makeup. Brinton has also been ordered to pay $500 in additional fees and will not serve jail time for the felony grand larceny charges.
“Las Vegas police originally closed the investigation in July last year, but reopened it after seeing reports about Brinton being charged in the Minnesota case,” reports Fox News.
The news of Brinton’s luggage theft caught additional attention after a Houston-based fashion designer accused him of taking her luggage from Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. “I lost my bag 2018 in DCA,” Asya Khamsin wrote on Twitter on Feb. 20. “I heard the news on [Fox News] about [Sam Brinton’s] luggage issue surprisingly I found his images wore my custom made [outfits which] was in the lost bag on 2018.”
Other Twitter users began sharing photos of Khamsin’s clothing next to images of Brinton in apparently identical items.
Khamsin told Fox News she had filed a complaint with the Houston Police Department and was subsequently contacted by the Minneapolis field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Biden administration has not commented on Brinton’s case.
Brinton is expected to travel to Minnesota to begin his adult diversion plan within the next month.
