Guy Who Swiped Noem's Purse Sentenced

UPDATE Apr 22, 2026 2:50 PM CDT

A Chilean man who stole then-Homeland Security Secretary's purse from a Washington, DC restaurant a year ago has been sentenced to three years in prison, six months more than what US Attorney Jeanine Pirro asked for. Mario Bustamante Leiva, 50, pleaded guilty in November. He will face deportation after he has completed his sentence. Pirro asked the judge to sentence Bustamante Leiva to 30 months, while a defense lawyer sought 15 months, saying the defendant had a "very difficult life marked by fear, abuse, and serious addiction" to alcohol but has since become sober, CNBC reports.

• Prosecutors said Bustamante, who didn't recognize Noem when he swiped her purse as she was dining at Capital Burger, stole the purses of two other women in DC last April. He "came to Washington illegally to prey on citizens of the District. He methodically targeted women at restaurants, stealing their purses, and monetizing the stolen cards within minutes," Pirro said in a statement. "His pattern of theft ends here. He will serve his prison term and be deported."

Nov 28, 2025 5:46 AM CST

A Chilean national with a globe-spanning criminal record has pleaded guilty to stealing the purse of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Washington, DC restaurant and will face deportation after he gets out of prison. Prosecutors say Mario Bustamante Leiva, 50, who has convictions for theft in the UK and Chile, stole Noem's Gucci bag containing her ID, passport, badge, and $3,000 in cash while she was dining with family at an upscale restaurant. His signed plea agreement says he stole from three people, including Noem, in the capital in April, the Washington Post reports. The other two victims were also women, one from Spain and one from Massachusetts.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and first-degree theft last week. The plea agreement acknowledges that he is "removable from the United States upon the completion of the sentence imposed in this case." The New York Post reports that Bustamante Leiva, who has been in custody since his April arrest, will be sentenced in March. "This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years," Noem said in a statement provided to the Post through a spokesperson. "Unfortunately, so many families in this country have been made victims by crime, and that's why President Trump is working every single day to make America safe and get these criminal aliens off of our streets."

Authorities say Bustamante Leiva used Noem's stolen credit card at an Italian restaurant in Georgetown. According to charging documents, he drank at the restaurant until midnight then fell asleep for seven hours at an outdoor table, the Hill reports. His criminal history includes a three-year prison sentence for robbery in Chile in 1995 and at least seven theft convictions in London, where he was sentenced to 13 weeks in prison in 2013.