Man Who Swiped Kristi Noem’s Purse From Restaurant Is Sentenced | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON (AP) — A person who stole a handbag from then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem whereas she dined at a restaurant beneath the safety of Secret Service brokers was sentenced on Wednesday to 3 years in jail for a string of thefts within the nation’s capital.

Mario Bustamante Leiva didn’t acknowledge Noem when he grabbed her Gucci purse from the ground of a restaurant the place she was consuming along with her household in April 2025, in line with the U.S. lawyer’s workplace. Noem’s purse had bank cards and about $3,000 in money. Police recovered it from Leiva’s motel room.

Bustamante Leiva, a 50-year-old native of Chile, is dealing with deportation after his sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden.

“Bustamante Leiva came to Washington illegally to prey on citizens of the district,” mentioned Jeanine Pirro, U.S. lawyer for the District of Columbia, in an announcement. “His pattern of theft ends here.”

Noem, who’s recognized solely by her initials in courtroom filings, acknowledged the incident in an announcement final yr that referred to Bustamante Leiva as a “a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years.”

He pleaded responsible in November to 3 counts of wire fraud and one depend of first-degree theft. He was charged and convicted of robbing two different folks and charging fraudulent purchases to their bank cards.

Bustamante Leiva was charged together with a second suspect, Cristian Montecino-Sananza, who was sentenced in March to 13 months of incarceration for his function in one of many different thefts.

Investigators mentioned they recognized Bustamante Leiva as a suspect within the thefts after he used a stolen present card to make a purchase order.