Man Who Stole Noem's Purse Faces Deportation

A Chilean national with a globe-spanning criminal record has pleaded guilty to stealing the purse of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Washington, DC restaurant and will face deportation after he gets out of prison. Prosecutors say Mario Bustamante Leiva, 50, who has convictions for theft in the UK and Chile, stole Noem's Gucci bag containing her ID, passport, badge, and $3,000 in cash while she was dining with family at an upscale restaurant. His signed plea agreement says he stole from three people, including Noem, in the capital in April, the Washington Post reports. The other two victims were also women, one from Spain and one from Massachusetts.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and first-degree theft last week. The plea agreement acknowledges that he is "removable from the United States upon the completion of the sentence imposed in this case." The New York Post reports that Bustamante Leiva, who has been in custody since his April arrest, will be sentenced in March. "This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years," Noem said in a statement provided to the Post through a spokesperson. "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."

Authorities say Bustamante Leiva used Noem's stolen credit card at an Italian restaurant in Georgetown. According to charging documents, he drank at the restaurant until midnight then fell asleep for seven hours at an outdoor table, the Hill reports. His criminal history includes a three-year prison sentence for robbery in Chile in 1995 and at least seven theft convictions in London, where he was sentenced to 13 weeks in prison in 2013.