A United States district court has sentenced Chilean national Mario Bustamante Leiva to three years in prison for stealing a handbag belonging to former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last year. The 50-year-old convict is also to be deported after serving his sentence. The ruling was announced last week by the administration of President Donald Trump.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro stated that Bustamante Leiva allegedly came to Washington illegally to prey on citizens, methodically targeting women at restaurants, stealing their purses, and monetizing stolen cards within minutes. She claimed, "His pattern of theft ends here. He will serve his prison term and be deported."
The incident raised concerns last year about the efficacy of Noem's Secret Service protection, as agents had been guarding her on the night of the theft. The Trump administration has purportedly used this case as an example to justify its deportation push and its military-led crackdown on crime in Washington, DC.
According to prosecutors, Bustamante Leiva was one of two suspects caught on surveillance camera stealing purses in Washington, DC, in April 2025. His co-defendant, Cristian Montecino-Sanzana, reportedly joined him for the first documented theft on April 12 and has been sentenced to 13 months in prison, but also faces deportation. Bustamante Leiva is additionally accused of a second theft on April 17 at the Westin Hotel in Washington, DC.
The case involving Noem occurred on April 20, as the Homeland Security secretary dined with her family at Capital Burger. A statement from the US Justice Department alleges that surveillance cameras recorded Bustamante Leiva repeatedly looking toward Noem's purse before bending down and snatching it. The purse contained several credit cards and about $3,000 in cash. Bustamante Leiva was charged with three counts of wire fraud and one count of first-degree theft.
Last year, Trump initiated a series of National Guard deployments across the country, supposedly to safeguard immigration agents and tamp down crime. In August, that campaign came to Washington, DC, where Trump described the city as overwhelmed with crime, despite official data at the time showing violent crime at a 30-year low.
In an executive order on August 11, Trump wrote, "Citizens, tourists, and staff alike are unable to live peacefully in the Nation’s capital, which is under siege from violent crime." As part of his order, he deployed thousands of National Guard troops to patrol the capital to address what he described as a "crime emergency."
While court cases forced Trump to remove National Guard members from other parts of the country, the military has remained on the streets of Washington, DC, in part because of the Home Rule Act, which gives the federal government greater power over the capital. However, there are limits: federal law largely forbids the military from serving as civilian law enforcement, so troops cannot make arrests. Roughly 2,500 troops remain in the capital to support local law enforcement. It is unclear when their deployment might end.
Kristi Noem, meanwhile, was fired as Homeland Security secretary on March 5, amid growing scrutiny of her government spending and her controversial immigration enforcement efforts in places like Minnesota. She has since been reassigned to the Shield of the Americas, Trump's initiative that allegedly aims to encourage Latin American leaders to reject Chinese influence and use heavy force to stop crime.
Source: www.aljazeera.com