Man who stole Kristi Noem’s purse in DC restaurant sentenced to prison

Mario Bustamante Leiva received a three-year prison sentence in federal court in Washington, D.C., for stealing then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse from the floor of a restaurant where she was eating with family in April 2025, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Prosecutors said Noem’s purse contained credit cards and about $3,000 in cash. Police later recovered the purse from Leiva’s motel room.

The case stems from an incident prosecutors described as occurring while Noem was dining with Secret Service protection. The U.S. attorney’s office said Leiva did not recognize Noem when he grabbed her Gucci handbag from the restaurant floor. Noem, whose court filings identify her only by her initials, acknowledged the incident in a statement that referred to Leiva as “a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years,” according to the AP report.

Prosecutors said Leiva pleaded guilty in November to three counts of wire fraud and one count of first-degree theft. The plea followed accusations that he robbed two other people and made fraudulent purchases charged to their credit cards, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Investigators also said they identified Leiva as a suspect in the thefts after he used a stolen gift card to make a purchase.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden imposed Leiva’s sentence after the guilty plea, according to the report. The U.S. attorney’s office said Leiva is also facing deportation after his prison term. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a statement that “Bustamante Leiva came to Washington illegally to prey on citizens of the district,” and that “His pattern of theft ends here,” the AP reported.

The prosecution also tied the overall theft scheme to another suspect. Prosecutors said Leiva was charged along with Cristian Montecino-Sananza, who was sentenced in March to 13 months in incarceration for his role in one of the other thefts, according to the AP account.

Leiva is identified as a 50-year-old native of Chile, and the sentencing means prosecutors say his theft and wire-fraud conduct will be addressed through the federal prison term ordered by McFadden, alongside the government’s efforts to remove him after the sentence.