Washington– The man who He stole a wallet From the then Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem While dining at a restaurant under the protection of Secret Service agents, she was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for a series of robberies in the nation’s capital.
Mario Bustamante Leyva did not recognize Noem when he snatched her Gucci handbag from the floor of a restaurant where she was dining with her family in April 2025, according to the US Attorney’s Office. Noem’s wallet contained credit cards and about $3,000 in cash. Police recovered it from Leyva’s hotel room.
Bustamante Leyva, a 50-year-old Chilean national, faces deportation following his sentencing by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden.
“Bustamante Leyva came to Washington illegally to attack citizens of the District,” Jeanine Pirro, US Attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a statement. “His pattern of theft ends here.”
Noem, identified only by her initials in court filings, acknowledged the incident in a statement last year that referred to Bustamante Leyva as a “career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years.”
He pleaded guilty in November to three counts of wire fraud and one count of first-degree theft. He was charged and convicted of robbing two other people and charging fraudulent purchases on their credit cards.
Bustamante Leyva was charged along with a second suspect, Cristian Montesino-Sananza, who was sentenced in March to 13 months in prison for his role in one of the other robberies.
Investigators said they identified Bustamante Leyva as a suspect in the thefts after he used a stolen gift card to make a purchase.