Illegal immigrant pleads guilty to stealing Kristi Noem’s purse in DC

An illegal immigrant from Chile has pleaded guilty to stealing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse and now faces possible deportation.

Mario Bustamante-Leiva, 50, was convicted Friday for the Easter Sunday theft in which he swiped Ms. Noem’s Gucci handbag at a downtown D.C. restaurant, according to federal court records.

He pleaded guilty to a series of purse thefts between April 12 and 20. He faces up to 30 years behind bars on charges of first-degree theft, wire fraud and aiding and abetting.

Bustamante-Leiva acknowledged in his plea agreement that he faces potential deportation after he completes his prison sentence, which has yet to be set.

Surveillance cameras captured Bustamante-Leiva stealing Ms. Noem’s purse while she dined with her family at the Capital Burger.

Charging documents said the thief donned an N95 mask and methodically inched his chair closer to Ms. Noem’s table before pulling the designer bag into his jacket.

Investigators said he made off with $3,000 in cash, a DHS badge, a makeup bag and a Louis Vuitton wallet inside Ms. Noem’s purse.

Bustamante-Leiva left the eatery, tossed out Ms. Noem’s driver’s license and treated himself to a meal at an Italian restaurant in Georgetown, the filing said.

Prosecutors said he used the secretary’s credit card to pay for more than $200 worth of food and drinks. The restaurant’s surveillance cameras caught him with Ms. Noem’s belongings.

Police arrested Bustamante-Leiva on April 26 after authorities continued to track his purchases around town with the stolen credit cards.

Court documents said he had snatched two other purses in the days leading up to the theft at the Capital Burger.

On April 12, prosecutors said Bustamante-Leiva and an accomplice stole a woman’s purse at a Nando’s near the National Portrait Gallery. The victim, a woman visiting from Spain, had her passport and more than 450 euros taken in the theft.

Officials said the two thieves bought a $500 Visa gift card with the victim’s credit card and spent it at area motels and hotels.

Bustamante-Leiva struck again April 17, stealing a purse from a tourist at a downtown hotel, court records say. Authorities said he used the Massachusetts woman’s credit cards to buy a bottle of wine and an American Express gift card.

The plea agreement revealed that Bustamante-Leiva had served prison time abroad. He spent three years behind bars in Chile for a 1995 robbery, and was in and out of prison in the United Kingdom between 2013 and 2017 for several thefts, attempted burglary and threats.