Former senior Department of Energy (DOE) official, Sam Brinton, was arrested on Wednesday in Rockville, Maryland, as a "fugitive from justice."
According to county records reviewed by Fox News Digital, Brinton was taken into custody by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police, the lead law enforcement agency for both Washington, D.C., area airports.
Montgomery County Police Department also assisted in the arrest. Brinton is being held in the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit on a no-bond status as they await an extradition hearing.
The arrest comes a month after Brinton, who made headlines last year after being appointed to the position that oversees nuclear waste policy at the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy as a non-binary gender-fluid person, escaped jail time in two separate cases in Nevada and Minnesota involving luggage thefts.
In October, police charged Brinton with stealing a traveler's baggage worth $2,325 from the luggage carousel at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport after flying in from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. on September 16.
In early December, Las Vegas prosecutors charged Brinton with grand larceny of an item valued between $1,200 and $5,000. Police accused Brinton of stealing a suitcase estimated to cost $3,670 on July 6, 2022, at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The bag contained jewelry valued at $1,700, clothing worth $850, and makeup valued at $500.
Brinton faced up to 15 years total for the two alleged thefts. However, in both cases, the presiding judges ruled jail time wasn't necessary. In February, a female Tanzanian fashion designer based in Houston accused Brinton of wearing custom designs packed in luggage she reported missing in 2018. Houston police referred that case to the FBI.
The DOE announced on December 12 that Brinton had departed the agency but wouldn't comment on why.
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