The illegal immigrant who brazenly swiped then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s $4,000 Gucci bag at a Washington, DC, restaurant last year was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday for his role in a string of thefts.
Mario Bustamante Leiva, 50, had pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and one count of first-degree theft last November related to purse snatching.
The Chilean national will be deported after serving his sentence, according to the Justice Department.
Mario Bustamante-Leiva pleaded guilty Friday for pilfering Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s Gucci bag. Obtained by NY Post“Bustamante Leiva came to Washington illegally to prey on citizens of the District,” DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement. “He methodically targeted women at restaurants, stealing their purses, and monetizing the stolen cards within minutes.
“His pattern of theft ends here. He will serve his prison term and be deported.”
Noem was dining with her family at Capital Burger on April 20, 2025, when Bustamante Leiva – having targeted two other women in purse snatchings days earlier – “deliberately seated himself within arm’s reach” of the former DHS secretary, according to prosecutors.
Bustamante Leiva didn’t recognize Noem, who was being protected by Secret Service detail, before he bent down and snatched the ex-Trump administration official’s purse.
Bustamante-Leiva stole Noem’s $4,000 Gucci bag while she was at a restaurant with her family on Easter in April 2025. AP
Cristian Montecino-Sanzana pleaded guilty to helping Mario Bustamante-Leiva steal the purse of another person a few days earlier. Obtained by NY PostThe purse contained several credit cards and about $3,000 in cash, according to prosecutors.
Investigators identified Bustamante Leiva as a suspect after he used a stolen gift card to make a purchase.
Police later recovered Noem’s belongings from Bustamante Leiva’s motel room.
Noem thanked law enforcement for finding and arresting Bustamante Leiva just days after the Easter Sunday incident.
“This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years,” Noem said of Bustamante Leiva, in an X post. “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.”
Bustamante Leiva’s accomplice in a previous theft, Cristian Montecino-Sananza, was sentenced in March to 13 months behind bars.
