President Trump has used criminal incidents to justify the continued deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C.
A U.S. District Court has sentenced a Chilean man to three years in prison for stealing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse last year.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump’s administration added that the suspect, Mario Bustamante Leyva, 50, would also be subject to deportation after his incarceration.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
“Bustamante Leyva came to Washington illegally to prey on District residents, systematically targeting women at restaurants, stealing their wallets, and monetizing the stolen cards within minutes,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement.
“His pattern of theft ends here. He will serve his sentence and be deported.”
Last year, a bag-snatching incident raised concerns about the effectiveness of Noem’s protection, as agents were protecting the Cabinet secretary on the night of the theft.
The Trump administration has also used the incident as an example to justify a push for deportations and a military-led crime crackdown in Washington, D.C.
Bustamante Leyva was one of two suspects caught on surveillance camera stealing wallets in Washington, D.C., in April 2025, prosecutors said.
His co-defendant, Cristian Montesino-Sanzana, also reportedly participated in the first theft on April 12. He was sentenced to 13 months in prison and three years of supervised release, but he too could be deported.
Bustamante Leyva is also charged with a second theft on April 17 at the Westin Hotel in Washington, D.C. In both cases, the stolen credit cards were later used to purchase gift cards at a grocery store.
The incident involving Noem occurred on April 20, when the Secretary of Homeland Security dined with his family at Capital Burger.
“Surveillance video recorded Bustamente-Leyva repeatedly looking down at Ms. Noem’s wallet before bending down and snatching it,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. “Noem’s wallet contained several credit cards and approximately $3,000 in cash.”
Bustamente Leyva was ultimately charged with three counts of wire fraud and one count of first-degree theft.
Last year, President Trump launched a series of National Guard deployments across the country in the name of protecting immigration workers and quelling crime.
In August, the campaign came to Washington, D.C., where President Trump said the district was overwhelmed by crime. But violent crime in the city was at its lowest in 30 years, according to official data at the time.
“Our citizens, visitors, and employees alike cannot live peacefully in a nation’s capital besieged by violent crime,” President Trump said in an Aug. 11 executive order.
As part of his order, he sent thousands of National Guard troops to patrol the nation’s capital in response to what he called a “criminal emergency.”
The lawsuit forced President Trump to remove the National Guard from other parts of the country, but the military remains on the streets of Washington, D.C., because of the Home Rule Act, which gives the federal government more power over the nation’s capital.
However, there are limits. Otherwise, the military cannot make arrests because federal law largely prohibits the military from serving as a civilian law enforcement agency.
About 2,500 troops remain in the capital to support local law enforcement. It is unclear when that deployment will end.
Meanwhile, Noem was fired as Secretary of Homeland Security on March 5 amid increased scrutiny of government spending and controversial immigration enforcement in Minnesota and other states.
She was later reappointed to the Shield of the Americas, President Trump’s initiative to encourage Latin American leaders to reject Chinese influence in their countries and use deadly force to stop crime.
