The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) fired a top nuclear waste official on Monday after they stole a woman’s suitcase at an airport in Minneapolis.
“Sam Brinton is no longer a DOE employee. By law, the Department of Energy cannot comment further on personnel matters,” a spokesperson for the DOE told the Daily Beast.
Brinton, the deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition at the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, was accused of snatching a $2,325 Vera Bradley suitcase from the baggage claim at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport back on Sept. 16.
Officers reportedly looked over footage of the luggage carousel after the suitcase’s owner alerted police. In the surveillance video, Brinton was seen taking the luggage before removing its tag, which identified its owner.
When Brinton, who happens to be non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, was confronted by a Minnesota police officer nearly a month later, they initially denied stealing 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,” they told the officer.
But they quickly called the police back and apologized for not being “completely honest,” saying that it was a mistake and blaming the carousel for taking the wrong bag.
“DEFENDANT said when they opened the bag at the hotel, they realized it was not theirs,” the court filings stated. “DEFENDANT got nervous people would think they stole the bag and did not know what to do. DEFENDANT stated they left the clothes from the bag inside the drawers in the hotel room.”
Brinton was charged with felony theft of moveable property without consent. They are set to appear in court on December 19, where they could face as much as five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted.
A group of House Republicans led by Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde called on Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to remove Brinton from the DOE.
“We demand the resignation of Sam Brinton, and we implore you to set aside petty politics and appoint only the most qualified and dedicated individuals to influence America’s energy sector,” Clyde and 15 other Republicans wrote in a letter to the secretary last week.
