US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, DC, US, on Saturday, January 24, 2026.
Valerie Plesh | Bloomberg | getty images
A Chilean man who admitted stealing then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s Gucci handbag as part of a series of purse thefts in Washington, DC, last year was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday, the Justice Department said.
The 50-year-old crook, Mario Bustamante Leiva, is living in the US illegally and will be subject to deportation at the end of his sentence. DOJ said.
Bustamante Leiva was arrested in late April 2025, less than a week after she entered the D.C. restaurant Capital Burger and snatched the purse that — unbeknownst to her — belonged to Noem, who at the time was one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent Cabinet officials.
Noem was dining at the restaurant with her family for Easter. At the time of the theft, she was under Secret Service protection.
Noem was removed from her post last month, sparking an upheaval in Trump’s Cabinet.
With Kristi Noem’s purse and wallet.
Courtesy: MPD
According to prosecutors, her Gucci bag contained credit cards and approximately $3,000 in cash when it was swiped.
The DOJ said security cameras captured the theft, and later showed Bustamante Leiva at another restaurant with Noem’s purse, wallet and at least one credit card, which she used to make unauthorized purchases.
Bustamante Leiva was later charged with purse theft in three separate incidents in April 2025.
He pleaded guilty Three counts of wire fraud and one count of first-degree theft were filed on November 21.
“Bustamante came to Washington illegally to prey on the citizens of the Leiva District,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement Wednesday.
“He systematically targeted the women in the restaurant, stole their purses and made off with the stolen cards in a matter of minutes,” Pirro said. “His thieving streak ends here. He will serve his prison sentence and be deported.”
A prosecutor in Pirro’s office told U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden sentencing memorandum That Bustamante Leiva’s criminal conduct dates back to at least the mid-1990s, involved entering various countries illegally, targeting “unsuspecting victims”, stealing from them, and then facing deportation or imprisonment.
Pirro asked the judge to sentence Bustamante Leiva to 30 months behind bars and three years of supervised release, saying his conduct was “serious” and deserved “a sentence at the higher end of the guidelines.”
But McFadden gave him six months more time than Pirro had requested.
Bustamante Leiva’s attorney, AJ Kramer, had asked the judge for a total sentence of 15 months in a court filing, saying the defendant has had a “very difficult life filled with fear, abuse and severe addiction.”
“All indications indicate that Mr. Bustamante Leiva’s conduct in this case concerns him
Alcohol use and addiction,” Kramer wrote in a sentencing memorandum On 17th April.
“Immediately after his arrest, Mr. Bustamante Leiva went through a severe and life-threatening alcohol withdrawal period. But he has since become sober,” Kramer wrote.
His co-defendant Cristian Montesinos-Sanzana pleaded guilty to two counts related to one of three burglaries to which Bustamante Leiva admitted – a purse-snatching at a Nando’s restaurant on April 12.
Montecino-Sanzana was sentenced on March 13 to 13 months in prison and three years of supervised release. The DOJ said he also faces deportation at the end of his prison sentence.