Police recovered stolen designer clothes while searching the home of former Department of Energy official Sam Brinton.
Brinton has been convicted of stealing luggage from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. After the cases gained national attention, a Tanzanian fashion designer wrote a viral post in February accusing Brinton of stealing her luggage from Ronald Regan Washington National Airport.
Asya Khamsin wrote that she traveled to Washington D.C. from Houston with a bag of her custom-designed pieces in 2018 to display her clothes at an event. When the bag went missing, she filed a report with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Police Department.
She subsequently recognized the dresses, tops and jewelry from the missing bag in photos of Brinton.
Brinton was taken into custody at his Maryland home at the request of Metropolitan Washington Airport on May 17 as a “fugitive of justice.”
MWAA has now confirmed Khamsin’s clothing was found during a search of Brinton's home and that the pieces have been returned to her.
"The MWAA Police Department can confirm we returned the victim’s property and police retained photos of the evidence for prosecution," Crystal Nosal, a spokeswoman for the MWAA, told Fox News Digital on Sept. 19. "The case is still under adjudication and we cannot release more detailed information."
Brinton was charged with felony grand larceny of items worth more than $1,000. The case will be heard in Arlington General District Court in December.
Khamsin has filed a civil suit against the former Biden administration official.
Brinton, who identifies as non-binary and gender-fluid, joined the Department of Energy on June 19, 2022. After news of the airport thefts broke, the DOE publicly stated Brinton was no longer an employee.
“Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Brinton served in roles at several think tanks, including the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Breakthrough Institute and Third Way,” according to a report from CNN. “Brinton is an LGBTQ advocate and outspoken activist against conversion therapy. They also worked with the Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on preventing suicides among the LGBTQ community, to start a campaign to ban conversion therapy throughout the country.”
Brinton has not had to serve jail time in either of the other two luggage theft cases. He was fined $2,235 for taking a Vera Bradley from the luggage carousel at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport on Sept. 16. He was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation, write a letter of apology, and return any stolen property as part of an adult diversion plan.
In Clark County, Nevada, Brinton was ordered to pay $3,670.74 to the person whose bag he took from the Harry Reid International Airport. The bag reportedly had $1,700 worth of jewelry, $850 worth of clothing and $500 worth of makeup.
