DOE’s deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition, Brinton allegedly took a Vera Bradley suitcase worth $2,325 from the luggage carousel at the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport (MSP) on September 16, according to a criminal complaint filed on October 26 in Minnesota state court and obtained by Fox News Digital.
Brinton had traveled from Washington, D.C., to MSP that day.
Officers reviewed video surveillance of the carousel after the suitcase’s owner alerted police, and identified Brinton taking the luggage before removing its tag identifying the owner, the court filings stated.
Law enforcement observed Brinton using the luggage during at least two other trips to Washington, D.C., on September 18 and October 9.
“If I had taken the wrong bag, I am happy to return it, but I don’t have any clothes for another individual.” Brinton told the officer when he was called to discuss the incident.
But two hours after the phone call, Brinton called the officer back and apologized for not being “completely honest.” Brinton blamed it on tiredness for taking the wrong bag at the carousel.
The bag owner stated that “they left the clothes from the bag inside the drawers in the hotel room.”
Brinton was ultimately charged with felony theft of a movable property without consent, a charge that could result in a five-year sentence, $10,000 fine or both.
