OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
1:32 PM – Friday, November 28, 2025
The illegal alien accused of stealing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse, back in April, pleaded guilty last week.
Mario Bustamante Leiva, a Chilean national illegally living in the U.S., was arrested after purportedly stealing Noem’s purse from a Washington, D.C., restaurant on April 20th. He was 49 at the time of the theft — though some reports now list him as being 50-years-old.
The charges, “a criminal complaint charging wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and robbery in connection with three purse snatchings in the District and the unauthorized use of victim credit cards,” were announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Matt McCool and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
The bag contained about $3,000 in cash, reportedly withdrawn for an Easter family visit, in addition to her DHS badge, passport, driver’s license, keys, credit cards, checks, among other items.
Under federal sentencing guidelines, he faces 6 months to 3.5 years in prison, plus fines up to $9,500, forfeitures of $3,174, and restitution — with the amount to be determined by the judge at sentencing.
Bustamante Leiva will also be “removable from the United States upon the completion of the sentence imposed in this case,” meaning deportation proceedings will follow his release. This is due, in part, to his extensive criminal history, including eight prior convictions and seven jail terms abroad: a 3-year sentence in Chile for a 1995 robbery, plus multiple terms in the U.K. from 2013–2017 for thefts, attempted burglary, and threats.
He reportedly stole $28,000 worth of phones, wallets and computers in London back in 2015.
According to the court filing, Bustamante Leiva has a history of targeting “diners at restaurants in the District of Columbia and elsewhere” to “stealthily steal their purses, and make fraudulent purchases using the diners’ stolen credit cards.”
Court documents also allege that Bustamante-Leiva took a bus from Chinatown to Georgetown, spending over $200 with the DHS Secretary’s credit cards at another restaurant, Angolo Ristorante Italiano. Surveillance footage captured him at the bar until approximately midnight, after which he exited the restaurant and fell asleep at an outdoor table, remaining there for about seven hours until roughly 7:30 a.m. the next morning.
Meanwhile, Noem has since explained to outlets like The Washington Post that Bustamante Leiva is a “career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years.”
“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,” she added.
Recounting the incident in an episode of Vince Coglianese’s “The VINCE Show” in April, Noem said, “It was kind of shocking, actually, because it was sitting right by my feet. I actually felt my purse — he hooked it with his foot and drug it a few steps away and dropped a coat over it and took it.”
Bustamante Leiva carried out thefts on April 12th, 17th and 20th in Washington, D.C., including the incident with the DHS secretary’s $4,000 Gucci bag. He is also believed to be part of a larger East Coast crime organization, being accused of stealing a fanny pack in New York in March and spending $1,200 from other peoples’ credit cards.
In his home country of Chile, he was sentenced to three years in prison for robbery in 1995.
During his detention hearing on May 21st, U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew J. Sharbaugh ordered pretrial detention without bail, citing Leiva’s extensive criminal history and his status as a flight risk — particularly after he requested an emergency passport from the Chilean consulate shortly after the crimes.
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