By Evaristo Lara
Chilean immigrant Mario Bustamante Leiva, who dared to steal a Gucci bag owned by Kristi Noem, former Secretary of Homeland Security, was sentenced to three years in prison and his subsequent deportation as soon as he has completed his sentence.
According to the District of Columbia Attorney’s Office, The 50-year-old man pleaded guilty to three counts related to wire fraud and an additional count of first-degree robbery.
For these crimes, Trevor McFadden, federal district judge, defined his acceptable situation by putting him behind bars.
Through a statement, Jeanine Pirro, federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, indicated that the South American resided in United States territory with an expired visa. and with a criminal employer employed to obtain money.
“Bustamante Leiva arrived illegally in Washington to take advantage of the citizens of the District. He methodically attacked women in restaurants, stole their purses and monetized the stolen cards in a matter of minutes. Your theft history ends here. He will serve his prison sentence and be deported” indicates part of the document.
On Sunday, April 20 of last year, while dining at a restaurant in Washington, DC, Kristi Noem realized that her purse, containing $3,000, credit cards, her passport, blank checks, her DHS access permit, her driver’s license and other personal documents, had been stolen.
As an investigation began, surveillance cameras captured Mario Bustamante Leiva repeatedly looking at Noem’s purse before “reaching down and snatching it away.”
After a few days, the police proceeded to arrest him at a motel, thanks to the fact that they tracked his location through gift card purchases made with another victim’s stolen credit card.
Kristi Noem’s purse, thousands of dollars in cash and other items were also found at the scene.
Subsequently, upon verifying his identity, his entry into the country in August 2021 was confirmed with a visa that authorized him to stay until November, which he overlooked, as he decided to dedicate himself to the theft of belongings.
Due to this, He also has active arrest warrants in Utah and New York.
However, in the theft of the former Secretary of Homeland Security’s purse, he relied on an accomplice, Cristian Montecino-Sanzana.
This individual was sentenced in March to 13 months in prison and three years of supervised probation.
Keep reading:
• The Chilean who stole the Security Secretary’s purse is also accused of identity theft
• Trump administration affirms that suspect of stealing Kristi Noem’s purse is an undocumented person
• Secretary of Homeland Security was the victim of robbery in a Washington DC restaurant
