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Her Gucci handbag — filled with credit cards, checks and $3,000 in cash — was swiped from a D.C. restaurant in April.
Brendan RasciusIn New YorkWednesday 26 November 2025 16:16 GMTComments
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A Chilean national pleaded guilty to stealing a cash-filled Gucci purse belonging to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem while she dined in Washington, D.C. He now faces deportation.
Mario Bustamante Leiva, 50, pleaded guilty on Friday to charges of first-degree theft and wire fraud after prosecutors accused him of perpetrating a string of thefts across the nation’s capital, according to The Washington Post.
“This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years,” Noem previously told the outlet. “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.”
Leiva was arrested on April 26 after he allegedly snatched three purses — and made purchases using credit cards carried inside — over an eight day period.
open image in galleryA Chilean national who stole the Homeland Security secretary’s cash-filled purse could face deportation, officials said. (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
open image in galleryThe purse contained Noem's driver’s license, keys, passport and $3,000 in cash. (Department of Justice)The first victim was dining at a Nando’s restaurant near the National Portrait Gallery on April 12 when her purse was stolen from the back of her chair. Five days later, a second woman had her purse taken while eating dinner at a Westin Hotel nearby.
Noem was the third victim. On April 20, she was eating at the Capital Burger on 7th Street when she noticed her purse — which had been placed at her feet — had vanished, according to the DOJ’s indictment.
The former South Dakota governor alerted her Secret Service detail and provided a list of the items in her luxury bag, which included several credit cards and her U.S. Government Personal Identification Verification card.
Other items in the bag were Noem’s keys, passport, checks and $3,000 in cash (DHS previously said the secretary had taken out a sizable sum of cash because her family was visiting for Easter).
Secret Service later obtained CCTV footage purportedly showing Leiva — wearing a blue cap and white mask — carrying Noem’s purse. It was also determined that he took a bus to an Italian restaurant and used Noem’s American Express cards to purchase $205.87 worth of food and drinks, prosecutors said.
open image in galleryLeiva allegedly used Noem’s American Express cards to purchase $205.87 worth of food and drinks. (Department of Justice)
open image in galleryLeiva pictured at the Silver Spring metro station on April 21, 2025. (Department of Justice)The purse-snatching spree adds to Leiva’s long rap sheet, accumulated across three continents. He received a three-year prison sentence in Chile for robbery in 1995. And in 2013, he received a 13-week sentence for theft in the U.K., according to the Post.
Leiva will now face deportation proceedings, according to the outlet.
“We’re glad to see justice was served and this criminal illegal alien will no longer be free on America’s streets to victimize more Americans,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public AffairsTricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
A spokesperson for DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent.
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