Former Biden Administration nuclear official Sam Brinton, who made headlines for being caught stealing luggage from airport carousels, gets off jail time with another slap on the wrist. 

Mr. Brinton, who pled guilty to petit larceny, will avoid a prison sentence as part of a sweetheart deal despite facing charges of felony suitcase theft that carries a sentence of up to 20 years, according to a report in the Washington Free Beacon.

The non-binary official was accused of theft by Houston-based Tanzanian fashion designer Asya Khamsin in February 2023 when she saw photos of Mr. Brinton in Vanity Fair magazine wearing her custom-designed clothes that were in a suitcase that went missing at a Washington D.C. airport six years ago. 

“I saw the images. Those were my custom designs, which were lost in that bag in 2018,” she told Fox News. “He wore my clothes.” 

After police searched Mr. Brinton’s home and discovered Ms. Khamsin’s missing items, Mr. Brinton was arrested. Felony charges were filed the next month. 

According to the settlement finalized last week in Arlington’s General District Court, Brinton will have to enter into an adult diversion program which includes writing a letter of apology, undergoing mental health evaluation and treatment and completing 50 hours of community service helping the elderly.

The sweetheart deal also reduced the charges against Mr. Brinton to petit larceny, a misdemeanor, instead of grand-larceny. 

A follow-up hearing is scheduled for June 2025 in which the courts will review Mr. Brinton’s progress. Until then, the case remains open. 

This is the third time that the ex-Biden Department of Energy official has managed to avoid jail time for charges related to airport luggage theft. 

The disgraced official was caught snatching luggage while attending a tax-payer funded government business trip in Las Vegas on July 6, 2022. 

Police issued an arrest warrant on grand-larceny charges after surveillance footage showed Mr. Brinton stealing a suitcase which contained an estimated  $1,700 worth of jewelry, $850 in clothing, and $500 in makeup. 

Just a few months later, Mr. Brinton was caught swiping a Vera Vradley suitcase from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport, containing items worth over $2,325. 

The Biden administration subsequently placed Mr. Brinton — the first openly non-binary individual granted a leadership position in the federal government — on leave. 

By December 2022, the Department of Energy confirmed that Mr. Brinton had been fired.