Sam Brinton, a former senior Department of Energy official who self-identifies as “openly genderfluid,” has avoided jail time after pleading no contest to stealing a woman’s suitcase from Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport in July 2022. Brinton has been ordered to pay $3,670 in restitution to the victim and was given a 180-day suspended sentence, as well as being charged with a misdemeanor instead of a felony as part of a plea deal. The MIT graduate was fired soon after the incident was made public.
