'Illegal immigrant’ stole DHS secretary Noem’s handbag: Chile man pleads guilty; faces deportation

A 50-year-old Chilean man on Friday pleaded guilty to a series of thefts across Washington, DC, including stealing the handbag of Homeland Security secretary Kristi L Noem while she was having dinner with her family earlier this year. Mario Bustamante Leiva admitted to three counts of wire fraud and first-degree theft. Court records show he has a long criminal history across three continents. Noem, who previously served as South Dakota governor and has a permanent Secret Service detail, linked the case to her warnings about immigrants living in the US without documents. She said the arrest supported the administration’s push for stronger deportation policies.“This individual 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,” Noem previously said in a statement to The Washington Post. Her stolen bag contained her driver’s licence, passport, keys, cheques, $3,000 in cash and her Homeland Security badge.

“We’re glad to see justice was served,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said, adding that Bustamante Leiva would no longer be free “to victimise more Americans.”

“This plea ensures immediate accountability and a clear path to deportation,” said Tim Lauer, spokesperson for US Attorney Jeanine Pirro. According to the plea agreement, Bustamante Leiva stole from three people in April. On 12 April, he and another man took a purse from a customer at a Nando’s restaurant near the National Portrait Gallery.

They used one of the credit cards to buy a $500 Visa gift card. The victim, a woman from Spain, also lost her passport, identification and 453 euros. The gift card was later used at motels and to top up a Metro card. Five days later, he stole from a woman visiting from Massachusetts while she was dining at the Westin hotel downtown. He used one of her cards to buy a bottle of wine and an American Express gift card. Two days after that, he entered Capital Burger wearing a medical mask and stole Noem’s Gucci handbag.

Prosecutors say he used one of her cards at an Italian restaurant in Georgetown. His crimes in Washington add to a long criminal record. He was sentenced to three years in prison for robbery in Chile in 1995. In 2013, he received a 13-week sentence for theft in London — the first of at least seven convictions there, most linked to theft.