Former Biden Energy Department official Sam Brinton, who identifies as “non-binary,” will be placed in a men’s jail in Maryland before authorities transport him to Virginia over suitcase theft charges.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday told the New York Post that authorities would hold Brinton, 35, at the county men’s jail with the general male population next week per the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation policy, which states that officers process and house inmates based on their biological sex.
“Although MCDOCR does not consider anatomical changes brought about by hormonal therapy to be changes that constitute a change of anatomical sex, the classification of an arrestee/inmate will depend on whether the arrestee/inmate has male or female genitalia, whether they present a management or security problem, and whether their health and safety can be ensured,” the policy reads, according to the Post. “Once an inmate is classified, they will be given a housing assignment based on that classification.”
Brinton, who President Joe Biden tapped to serve as the deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the U.S. Department of Energy, was fired six months after joining the Biden administration amid allegations of stealing luggage and women’s clothing from airports.
Authorities arrested Brinton last week at a house in Rockville, Maryland, as a “fugitive from justice” for allegedly stealing luggage.