Former Department of Energy official Sam Brinton, who self-identifies as "openly gender fluid," will receive mental health treatment to avoid jail time for the charges of stealing a woman's luggage.

As reported by The Washington Free Beacon, at a hearing, state prosecutors announced that Brinton would "undergo mental health treatment, write a letter of apology, and complete 50 hours of community service helping the elderly." Brinton must also pay the victim an undisclosed amount of money.

Thanks to the agreement, "the charges against Brinton were amended from grand larceny, a felony offense, to petit larceny, a misdemeanor." Thus, Brinton will avoid going to prison for a third time, this time facing a maximum sentence of 20 years.

A spokeswoman for Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, Arlington County's commonwealth's attorney, stated, "The resolution we came to is supported by the facts and circumstances of the case as a whole. ... Unfortunately, since this case remains pending, we are prohibited from commenting further."

Brinton's thefts

Brinton served as the DOE's deputy assistant secretary for Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition. The first indictment came in 2018 for stealing luggage from Asya Khamsin, a fashion designer originally from Tanzania and living in Houston, who reported the disappearance of her customized garments and directly accused the former official. The designer alleged that Brinton publicly wore the clothes that were in her bag that had gone missing at Ronald Reagan National Airport. The case was investigated by the FBI.

The ex-official faced two other grand theft charges after snatching a backpack at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas and a suitcase at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport in Minnesota. The luggage and the items it contained were worth more than $2,000 each.

Following the trials, Brinton was arrested in Rockville, Md., and subsequently released on bail. Brinton no longer works for the DOE.

Thefts on official visits

Internal federal government documents exposed a few months ago that the former official was on a secret official trip paid for by taxpayers at the time he committed one of the criminal acts.

DOE reports shared to Fox by watchdog group Functional Government Initiative (FGI) show the former nonbinary official flew in July 2022 from Washington, D.C., to Nevada for a secret meeting at the state's Office of Homeland Security near Las Vegas.