Samuel Brinton, a disgraced former Energy Department official under Biden who was dismissed due to previous controversies, has agreed to undergo a mental health assessment as part of an adult diversion program related to a felony charge of baggage theft in Minnesota.
Last year, Brinton was charged with felony theft in two distinct cases for reportedly stealing luggage from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, the Daily Wire reported.
FOX 9 news outlet reported that Brinton must apologize to the victim, return the stolen items, and fulfill community service obligations as part of the adult diversion program. If he successfully completes the program, the charges against him may be dropped entirely.
Brinton allegedly arrived at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport on a flight from Washington, D.C. with American Airlines on September 16. As per the complaint, Brinton traveled without any checked baggage, which suggests that he had no intention of claiming any bag upon arrival.
According to the complaint, Brinton purportedly left the airport in an Uber and proceeded to check into the InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront Hotel while carrying the blue bag.
Two days later on September 18, Brinton returned to MSP with the same bag and flew back to Washington, D.C., reports said.
The suitcase was identified through records and video surveillance as belonging to a female passenger who had flown into MSP from New Orleans on a Delta flight. The woman reported the missing bag, which contained items valued at approximately $2,325, to law enforcement on the same day that Brinton allegedly took the luggage from the baggage claim area.
According to the criminal complaint, video surveillance footage from Dulles International Airport in Virginia captured Brinton returning from Europe with the same bag almost three weeks later on October 9.
On the same day, authorities contacted Brinton and inquired if he had taken anything that didn’t belong to him. Brinton reportedly responded by saying, “Not that I know of,” but later on, he admitted to taking the bag.
“If I had taken the wrong bag, I am happy to return it, but I don’t have any clothes for another individual. That was my clothes when I opened the bag,” he told officers, according to the complaint.
Two hours later, Brinton purportedly called the authorities to apologize for not being truthful earlier, stating that he took the bag believing it was his due to exhaustion. The complaint further alleges that Brinton only realized that the bag wasn’t his upon opening it up at the hotel, which then led to him becoming “nervous,” adding that he “didn’t know what to do.”
Brinton’s felony charge in Minnesota may now be dismissed after he entered a “no contest” plea last week following an earlier charge of stealing luggage at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas in December.
Brinton has agreed to pay the victim over $3,500 in restitution and has received a 180-day suspended jail sentence, which means he won’t have to serve any time in jail if he doesn’t commit any further offenses, according to Eight News Now.
