EXCLUSIVE ICE Barbie Kristi Noem's 'purse snatcher' was allowed into US legally by Biden despite being JAILED for same crime
The serial thief arrested for allegedly stealing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's Gucci purse was allowed into the US legally under Joe Biden 's watch, DailyMail.com has learned.
Mario Bustamante-Leiva, 49, was arrested this week after allegedly stealing from the Trump cabinet member at a restaurant in Washington DC, taking off with over $3,000 in cash alongside blank checks, her passport and her Homeland Security badge.
Bustamante-Leiva is entered the US legally in August 2021, but 'violated the terms of his lawful admission', DailyMail.com understands.
The thief's legal entry raises questions as he previously made headlines in the UK in 2015 after being named as one of London's most prolific thieves and he received a three-year prison sentence.
It is not clear how much of this sentence he served, however he was able to clear strict US immigration laws on allowing convicted criminals into the country years after his prison sentence.
After his high-profile arrest, officials said a second suspect, named as Christian Rodrigo Montecino-Sanzana, 51, was also detained as an alleged accomplice of Bustamante-Leiva.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, a spokesperson for ICE said that both men are illegal immigrants from Chile, and after their arrests by the US Secret Service, 'ICE has lodged immigration detainers against both individuals.
It comes as newly released court documents revealed that Bustamante-Leiva immediately used Noem's credit card on a boozy night out before sensationally calling the cops on himself when he was thieved as he slept outside.
In the court documents revealed on Monday, it was claimed that Bustamante-Leiva swiped Noem's bag at the Capital Burger restaurant before going to Angolo Ristorante Italiano restaurant, where he 'stayed until about midnight' drinking at the bar.
He is accused of spending $205.87 of Noem's money inside the establishment - and cops released images of him chatting on the phone with her large designer handbag, wallet, and American Express card on the table in front of him.
The career criminal then fell asleep on an outdoor table at the restaurant until 7.30am the next morning. However when he woke up, he realized his belongings, including a Chilean passport and $1,000 in cash, had been stolen.
When he was finally apprehended by police he was caught with a fake California ID in his possession and admitted to stealing Noem's purse.
Bustamante-Leiva - who had been living illegally in the US for years - was shown a picture of the top cabinet member by police, but he said he had no idea who she was.
When he stole from Noem, Bustamante-Leiva sat alone at a table next to the secretary and was able to snatch her purse while no one was looking, according to police
When he stole from Noem, Bustamante-Leiva sat alone at a table 'within arms reach' of her, and used a sneaky method to move her handbag closer to him, according to cops who say he has used the same tactic many times before.
He sat behind Noem and 'pushed the chair back from his table and in the direction of' the DHS Secretary, in a 'deliberate' move 'to get closer to (her) belongings', the documents state.
Bustamante-Leiva then 'looked downward' in the direction of her purse, and 'then at a child milling about nearby', before he 'twisted his body left towards (Noem's) purse and moved his leg'.
He swept her Gucci handbag toward himself with his leg, and surveillance footage then showed him 'bend down with his jacket in one hand and, with his other hand, pick up' the handbag.
With the bag under his arm, the longtime thief then bolted to the nearby bar.
According to the court documents, Bustamante-Leiva had stolen from two other unsuspecting victims in just over a week before targeting Noem.
The suspect was found with a fake California ID when he was arrested, the newly released court filings showed
After he was nabbed by the Secret Service, Bustamante-Leiva told officers he was an alcoholic and suffered from 'memory issues', before admitting to stealing Noem's handbag.
The court documents noted that he was 'somewhat uncooperative and smelled heavily of alcohol.'
He said that he kept her purse and wallet, but threw the rest of the contents in the trash - including Noem's driving license - as he made his escape.
In surveillance images included in the filing, a man alleged to be Bustamante-Leiva was seen at various stores and bars using the credit cards, and after stealing from Noem was noted as wearing a dark colored jacket with a thick white collar, jeans, a white Covid-style mask, and a dark colored hat to hide his face.
When he was taken into custody, Bustamante-Leiva was transported to hospital after 'complaining of alcohol withdrawal', the court documents stated.
He was then released and transported to Secret Service headquarters, where he was interrogated by agents, and claimed that when he was stolen from outside the restaurant he was targeted by 'five black males.'
Investigators believe the suspect is part of a wider criminal organization terrorizing the East Coast - but Bustamante-Leiva has a lengthy, transatlantic criminal record to his name.
After his 2014 arrest in London, he was jailed in the UK for three years after stealing $27,957 worth of phones, wallets and computers during a five-month crime spree.
Bustamante-Leiva was a jobless father-of-three at the time with no fixed address.
The Chilean national trawled exclusive bars, restaurants and coffee shops looking for laptops, mobile phones, iPods and tablets.
In 2015, the Old Bailey court in London heard in one case he even stole a bag containing an entire family's passports and airplane boarding passes.
Police released CCTV footage which showed the brazen thief swipe an unsuspecting woman's handbag from under her nose as she chats with a friend.
He admitted 22 charges of theft between July and December 2014.
Noem thanked law enforcement for arresting the suspected thief.
She wrote on Sunday: 'Thank you to Secret Service and ICE and our law enforcement partners for finding and arresting the criminal who stole my bag on Easter Sunday as I shared a meal with my family at a Washington DC restaurant.
'This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years.
'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.'
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