The latest arrest of disgraced former Energy Department official Sam Binton for stealing airport luggage stems from the theft of an East African fashion designer’s luggage, after the designer saw photos of Brinton wearing her own custom clothes .
Brinton, who identifies as non-binary and uses she/she pronouns, was arrested Wednesday at his home in Maryland in connection with the alleged theft of property from Reagan National Airport in northern Virginia.
Brinton, 35, is being held without bail at Montgomery County Detention Center, awaiting extradition to Virginia on grand larceny charges.
Now Tanzanian-American fashion designer Asyakhamsin says through her lawyer that she filed the report with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police (MWAA) that resulted in Brinton’s latest arrest — their third on similar charges.
Attorney Peter C. Hansen told DailyMail.com on Friday that his client “has provided the MWAA with images of Mr. Brinton wearing her bespoke designs and lost jewelry, along with comparative photographs showing them on models and Asyakhamsin herself.”
Hansen said that during a search of Brinton’s home in Rockville on Wednesday, police “recovered a number of items matching Asyakhamsin’s descriptions and images.”
Tanzanian-American fashion designer Asyakhamsin (above) says she filed a police report after seeing former Energy Department official Sam Binton wearing stolen clothes
Brinton (seen in 2019 in an allegedly stolen outfit) was arrested Wednesday at home in Maryland in connection with the alleged theft of property from Reagan National Airport
The lawyer noted that his client’s luggage, stolen on March 9, 2018, contained “more than a dozen custom-made garments that she had designed, along with a number of other valuable items for her business.”
“Asyakhamsin’s business was seriously damaged by this loss, which remained a mystery until she was recently alerted to photos of Sam Brinton carrying items from her lost luggage,” Hansen said.
The lawyer said Asyakhamsin is “leaving her options open” for a civil suit against Brinton, but has not yet filed a lawsuit.
“Certain public images of Mr. Brinton in Asyakhamsin’s designs were widely published, including on Vanity Fair’s Italian website,” Hansen said, noting that his client’s designs were “shown without credit in many other publications.” as they were carried by Brinton.
“Asyakhamsin is a black female Muslim immigrant entrepreneur and she has built an impressive career over 40 years,” he added. “She deserves credit for her works.”
In February, a shocked Asyakhamsin went public with her allegations, saying her briefcase went missing at Reagan National in 2018 and she had since seen photos of Brinton wearing her custom designs.
The Houston-based fashion guru shared side-by-side photos of herself wearing one of her outfits, alongside a photo that surfaced of Brinton in what she said was the same piece of clothing.
Asyakhamsin’s luggage containing the outfits she accused Brinton of being photographed in went missing at the airport when she flew to Washington, D.C. for a fashion event in 2018.
The outfits were meant to be on display, but the designer said at the time that she was unable to participate in the event as she had hoped after her luggage went missing.
Brinton in an earlier mugshot. They have now been arrested three times for stealing women’s suitcases from airports
Brinton was fired in December 2022 as deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste disposal at the Office of Nuclear Energy after being accused twice of stealing luggage from airports.
In October 2022, Brinton was charged with theft after allegedly stealing a woman’s suitcase at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport the previous month.
In December 2022, new charges emerged over the theft of a woman’s luggage at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas in July 2022.
In the Minnesota case, Brinton participated in a diversion program and agreed to undergo a mental health evaluation to avoid jail time, and was required to write an apology to the victim, return the stolen items, and participate in three days of community service.
Brinton pleaded no contest to the Las Vegas charges last month, received a 180-day suspended sentence and was ordered to pay $3,670 to the Las Vegas victim.
Sam Brinton (pictured left at Starbucks in West Hollywood in October 2019) appeared to be wearing Brinton’s unique designs
Brinton is seen on the left at an event on June 11, 2018 wearing an outfit that Khamsin said resembled one of the outfits that went missing along with her luggage in March 2018, similar to the design seen on the right
Brinton was arrested Wednesday at their Maryland home. Their husband Kevin (abandoned in February) was kept in the house while Brinton was led into handcuffs
In the latest incident, airport police said the matter was first brought to their attention in February, at the same time Khamsin made her allegations public.
A police spokesman told DailyMail.com: “Police of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority executed a search warrant May 17 in Montgomery County, Maryland, in connection with allegations of stolen property in luggage from Reagan National Airport that came to the attention of the public in February 2023. were brought to the department. ‘
“With the help of the Montgomery County Police Department, Samuel Otis Brinton, age 35, of Rockville, Maryland, was taken into custody Wednesday awaiting charges from Grand Larceny,” the official said.
Initial reports say Brinton was being held in Maryland as a “fugitive,” though this appears to refer to the out-of-state allegations coming from Virginia, which require extradition.