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WASHINGTON — <\/span>A man who stole a purse<\/a> from then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem<\/a> while she dined at a restaurant under the protection of Secret Service agents was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison for a string of thefts in the nation’s capital.<\/p>\n Mario Bustamante Leiva did not recognize Noem when he grabbed her Gucci handbag from the floor of a restaurant where she was eating with her family in April 2025, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Noem\u2019s purse had credit cards and about $3,000 in cash. Police recovered it from Leiva’s motel room.<\/p>\n Bustamante Leiva, a 50-year-old native of Chile, is facing deportation after his sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden.<\/p>\n \u201cBustamante Leiva came to Washington illegally to prey on citizens of the district,\u201d said Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, in a statement. \u201cHis pattern of theft ends here.\u201d<\/p>\n Noem, who is identified only by her initials in court filings, acknowledged the incident in a statement last year that referred to Bustamante Leiva as a \u201ca career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 to their credit cards.<\/p>\n Bustamante Leiva was charged along with a second suspect, Cristian Montecino-Sananza, who was sentenced in March to 13 months of incarceration for his role in one of the other thefts.<\/p>\n Investigators said they identified Bustamante Leiva as a suspect in the thefts after he used a stolen gift card to make a purchase.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n