- The former nuclear energy official who has been accused of luggage theft has lost their job.
- In a statement, the Department of Energy confirmed that Sam Brinton was no longer a government employee.
The former nuclear energy official accused of stealing multiple pieces of high-priced luggage in various domestic US airports no longer works for the US Department of Energy.
Sam Brinton, the former employee, has been the subject of investigations by Minnesota and Las Vegas authorities into stolen bags at two airports after reports in November connected them to the incidents. Last week, Las Vegas authorities issued an arrest warrant for Brinton. And last month in Minnesota they were charged in connection with the theft of a bag.
Insider has tried to contact Brinton and an attorney for Brinton multiple times but has not gotten a response.
"Sam Brinton is no longer a DOE employee," a DOE spokesperson told Insider in a statement on Monday night. "By law, the Department of Energy cannot comment further on personnel matters."
Brinton, 35, had been placed on administrative leave by the Department of Energy last month after they were accused of taking a woman's Vera Bradley suitcase from baggage claim at Minnesota's Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport on September 16. They were charged with felony theft over accusations that they swiped a mother's Vera Bradley suitcase from an airport in Minnesota in September.
Authorities had temporarily closed a case about a suitcase stolen on July 6 at Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport after they couldn't identify a suspect from surveillance footage.
But Las Vegas police reopened the case on November 29 and named Brinton as a suspect after the Minnesota charges, according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department records obtained by Insider.
Brinton — the now-former deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition at the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy — made headlines late last month in connection with the Minnesota case.
"Numerous news articles covering the story had photographs of Brinton" who an officer "immediately recognized as the suspect pertaining to" the Las Vegas case, states an arrest warrant issued for Brinton.
Las Vegas police issued a felony arrest warrant on a grand larceny charge for Brinton — who is one of the federal government's first openly gender-fluid employees and uses they/them pronouns — last week.
According to the arrest warrant, police say that Brinton "can clearly be seen and identified on video stealing" a woman's gray Away luggage from a carousel at baggage claim in the Las Vegas airport on July 6 "and leaving" with it.
The hard case bag and its contents were estimated to be worth $3,670.74, according to the warrant. The victim told Las Vegas police she had jewelry worth $1,700 and makeup valued at $500 in the luggage.