(Headline USA) Sam Brinton, the former “nonbinary” Biden administration official who was charged with stealing luggage on at least two separate occasions, will undergo a mental health evaluation as part of a Minnesota diversion program, according to a report.
Brinton appeared remotely at a Hennepin County Court hearing stemming from charges filed against him for a luggage theft incident that occurred in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last September. The former nuclear waste official was ordered to write a formal apology to the victim whose luggage he stole, return the stolen property, perform community service and undergo a mental health evaluation, Fox9 reported.
It’s not clear whether these conditions were a part of a plea deal, but it does appear Brinton has avoided significant legal consequences. If his case had moved to trial and resulted in a conviction, he could have been sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Brinton was also spared jail time in his second theft case, which occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he stole another woman’s suitcase at the Harry Reid International Airport in July 2022. Brinton plead no contest to the charges Vegas officials filed against him, and in return his felony charge was downgraded to a misdemeanor.
The Vegas court handed Brinton a 180-day suspended sentence and ordered him to pay $3,670.74 in restitution to the victim for the luggage.
After news of the charges against Brinton were made public, the Biden administration fired him from his job as deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition. However, before Brinton was fired, he was placed on administrative leave, during which he was still cashing his six-figure salary, according to Townhall. In fact, Brinton was still receiving paychecks for at least a month, FOIA records revealed.