The man accused of stealing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse earlier this year has pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges, bringing a dramatic end to a case that blended petty theft, personal violation, and an ongoing national debate over public safety and immigration. Prosecutors say the suspect, 44-year-old Chilean national Mario Bustamante Leiva, admitted last week to wire fraud, aiding and abetting, and first-degree theft. His plea also triggered the possibility of deportation once his sentence is complete.
Federal documents paint a picture of a repeat thief who moved quietly through Washington, D.C., restaurants, stealing purses from unsuspecting diners and using the victims’ credit cards within hours. According to the filings, restaurant patrons across multiple neighborhoods were targeted in the same way: a stealthy grab, a quick exit, and a trail of fraudulent purchases.
Noem’s experience followed that familiar pattern — but with higher stakes. She was dining at Capital Burger when Bustamante Leiva allegedly slid her purse away from her feet, covered it with a coat, and carried it off without being noticed. The bag was far from ordinary. Inside were $3,000 in cash, her DHS access badge, her passport, her driver’s license, several credit cards, blank checks, and her keys.
Court records show Bustamante Leiva took a bus from Chinatown to Georgetown shortly after the theft and used Noem’s cards to spend about $200 at Angolo Ristorante Italiano. He allegedly stayed at the bar until close to midnight, then fell asleep outside at one of the restaurant’s patio tables for roughly seven hours.
It was only after his arrest that prosecutors say he admitted to stealing Noem’s purse, telling authorities he struggled with alcoholism and memory issues but recalled the theft clearly. A second person was also taken into custody as a suspected co-conspirator, though charges have not been filed.
For Noem, the episode struck a deeply personal nerve. In a statement to The Washington Post, she called Bustamante Leiva a “career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years” and used the moment to highlight broader concerns about immigration enforcement and repeat offenders. “So many families in this country have been made victims by crime,” she said. “That’s why President Trump is working every single day to make America safe and get these criminal aliens off of our streets.”
On a podcast earlier this year, Noem described the moment she discovered her bag missing as “shocking,” saying she felt it being dragged away from her feet before it disappeared under a coat. The details — the access badge, the passport, the proximity of the purse at her feet — underline the vulnerability of even high-level officials in seemingly ordinary situations.
Bustamante Leiva’s guilty plea now closes the criminal side of the case, though several questions remain. It’s unclear whether the purse or its contents were ever recovered. It’s also uncertain whether the alleged co-conspirator will be charged. But the plea ensures a formal record of the theft, the fraudulent purchases, and the broader pattern of restaurant-based crimes investigators believe he carried out for months.
