分类： crime

A career thief who targeted diners across Washington, D.C. has been handed a three-year federal prison sentence for stealing a handbag belonging to former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a family meal last spring. The incident, which unfolded in April 2024 at the popular downtown Capital Burger restaurant, saw Noem place her Gucci handbag — holding $3,000 in cash alongside sensitive personal and official items including her driver’s license, passport, and DHS security access badge — under the table while she dined. As a sitting cabinet member at the time, Noem was accompanied by her assigned Secret Service detail, who launched an immediate search alongside local law enforcement after the theft was discovered.

Prosecutors confirmed that 50-year-old Mario Bustamante Leiva, a Chilean national residing in the U.S. illegally, did not know he had targeted a former governor and top cabinet official when he stole the bag, which was part of a long-running pattern of petty theft and fraud across the nation’s capital. Investigators told reporters that Bustamante Leiva used a common distraction tactic to carry out his pickpocketing schemes: he draped a coat over his forearm to hide his movements while he snatched unattended bags from restaurant patrons. Within minutes of stealing a victim’s credit or gift cards, he would make unauthorized purchases across the city, authorities said.

Law enforcement ultimately identified Bustamante Leiva as the prime suspect through tracking data tied to a purchase he made with one of Noem’s stolen credit cards on a gift card. A subsequent search of his local motel room turned up Noem’s missing handbag and most of its contents, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed. In November 2024, Bustamante Leiva entered a guilty plea to three counts of wire fraud and one count of first-degree theft, closing out a joint investigation conducted by the Metropolitan Police Department of D.C. and the U.S. Secret Service.

In an official statement announcing the sentencing, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro emphasized that the conviction puts an end to a pattern of criminal activity that targeted ordinary residents and visitors of Washington. “Bustamante Leiva came to Washington illegally to prey on citizens of the district,” Pirro said. “His pattern of theft ends here.” Following the completion of his three-year prison term, federal officials confirmed that Bustamante Leiva will be processed for deportation back to his native Chile.

One of New York City’s most iconic annual holiday traditions has become the center of a major federal fraud case, after the president of the event’s organizing body was arrested on charges of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in charitable donations for personal use.

Stefan Pildes, a 50-year-old New Jersey resident, faces a single count of wire fraud over his alleged misuse of funds raised through SantaCon, the hugely popular December pub crawl that draws tens of thousands of costumed participants each year. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unveiled the charges this week, laying out a years-long scheme that they say exploited the holiday generosity of participants and local business owners across the city.

Every year, SantaCon draws roughly 25,000 attendees, who purchase tickets to take part in the bar crawl while dressed as Santa Claus and other seasonal characters. The event has long been marketed to the public as a large-scale charity fundraiser, with proceeds from ticket sales and partnerships pledged to local nonprofits.

According to the official charging document, Pildes raised approximately $2.7 million through the event between 2019 and April 2026. Instead of directing the bulk of these funds to charitable causes, prosecutors allege that Pildes diverted more than half of the total revenue into a personal “slush fund” that he used to cover a wide range of extravagant personal expenses.

Court filings detail that the accused spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of stolen charity money on everything from luxury vacations and fine dining to concert tickets and major home renovations. Among the most high-value purchases outlined in the charges are $365,000 in renovations for a private lakefront property Pildes owns in New Jersey, $124,000 in costs related to a luxury Manhattan apartment, and nearly $3,000 for a single birthday dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Manhattan.

Only a tiny fraction of the $2.7 million raised was ever donated to registered charities, according to the documents filed in court.

“Stefan Pildes promoted SantaCon as an event grounded in charitable giving, but instead of donating the millions of dollars he raised, he ran his own con game,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in an official statement announcing the charges. “He took advantage of New Yorkers’ generous holiday spirit to finance his lifestyle through personal expenses, big and small.”

As of the release of the charging documents, no defense attorney has been listed for Pildes in official court records. If convicted on the wire fraud charge, Pildes faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison.

After more than 13 years of fear, uncertainty and delayed investigation, one of Long Island’s most notorious cold crime sagas reached a pivotal turning point this Wednesday, as 62-year-old architect Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty to the murders of eight women in a packed Suffolk County courtroom. The story that stunned and haunted the region for more than a decade closes a major chapter with Heuermann’s confession, though lingering questions and unresolved wounds still remain for communities and victims’ loved ones.

Dressed in a tailored black suit and blue tie, the 6-foot-4 Heuermann stood stone-faced before Judge Timothy Mazzei, answering “yes” to nearly every question about the details of his brutal crimes. He confirmed he used the promise of payment to lure each victim, bound and strangled them to death in an identical pattern, then discarded their dismembered remains along remote, brush-lined stretches of Long Island’s Gilgo Beach. He never turned to face the gallery filled with victims’ family members, some of whom choked back sobs as the graphic details of his crimes were laid out. “There wasn’t a jot of remorse in that man’s face,” said John Ray, attorney representing multiple victims’ families, after the hearing. “He was as cold as ice.”

All eight of Heuermann’s victims were sex workers, most of whom he contacted through advertisements posted on Craigslist. The case first emerged into public view in 2010, when investigators searching for a missing woman stumbled across four sets of human remains within a quarter-mile of each other along Ocean Parkway. Over subsequent years, more remains were uncovered, eventually totaling 11 sets of remains found across the coastal scrubland. Heuermann was first identified as a suspect and arrested in 2023, when investigators connected him to the crimes using DNA recovered from a discarded pizza box. Initially, he was charged with seven murders; Wednesday’s guilty plea added an eighth killing dating back to 1996. The full eight victims confirmed Wednesday are Melissa Barthelemy, 24, Megan Waterman, 22, Amber Costello, 27, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Jessica Taylor, 20, Valerie Mack, 24, Sandra Costilla, 28, and Karen Vergata, 34. Heuermann will receive multiple consecutive life sentences, to be formally handed down during a sentencing hearing scheduled for June 17.

The case was marked by years of investigative missteps and institutional failure that delayed justice by more than a decade. In its early stages, the investigation was led by former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, who was arrested in 2015 and later convicted of obstruction of justice. Former Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota, who also oversaw the probe, was ultimately brought down by the same corruption scandal that took down Burke. For years, the investigation made little tangible progress, and many victims’ family members have accused law enforcement of deliberately dragging their feet because all the victims were sex workers, noting officers frequently dismissed the women by labeling them “prostitutes.”

It was not until 2022, when new county leadership launched a multi-agency task force including both local and federal investigators, that the case moved forward rapidly. Investigators acted on a tip first given to police back in 2010 by Dave Schaller, roommate of victim Amber Costello, who described a large, intimidating client that matched Heuermann’s description driving a rare first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche. The tip led investigators to Heuermann, and further evidence—including burner phone communications, cell tower data, and hair DNA matching the DNA from his discarded pizza—solidified the case against him. Law enforcement also reported finding handwritten guides Heuermann created on how to carry out the killings stored on a computer in his basement.

Heuermann was a married father of two living a quiet double life in the Long Island suburb of Massapequa Park, residing in the dilapidated, run-down childhood home where he grew up. For neighbors, the crumbling red-shuttered house always stood out among the well-maintained homes and manicured lawns of the quiet village, but few suspected what lay inside. “It doesn’t fit in the neighbourhood, but what are you going to do? You don’t think anything of it,” one long-time neighbor told reporters, noting that most residents just wanted to move past the case now that Heuermann has confessed. The home has become a magnet for media and true crime enthusiasts, and the day before the plea hearing, reporters swarmed the property after it emerged Heuermann’s ex-wife and children were filming a documentary there.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Heuermann’s ex-wife Asa Ellerup sat in the back of the courtroom dressed in black, showing no expression while her daughter held tissues. Outside court after the hearing, Ellerup expressed her sympathy for the victims’ families, calling their loss “immeasurable.” She and her legal team have repeatedly denied any involvement in Heuermann’s crimes, a position supported by law enforcement. However, Benjamin Torres, son of victim Valerie Mack, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Heuermann and his family, seeking to seize any profits the family earns from their upcoming documentary.

Even with Heuermann’s guilty plea, open questions continue to hang over the case. Police do not believe Heuermann was responsible for the death of Shannan Gilbert, the missing woman whose 2010 disappearance led to the initial discovery of the other victims’ remains. Authorities have said her death was likely an accidental drowning in the marsh where her body was found, but her family and supporters still question that finding. Many locals also wonder whether more undiscovered victims are still buried in the coastal marshes and brush near Gilgo Beach. For Sandra Symon, a high school classmate of Heuermann who now boats near the area where the remains were found, the case has left an indelible mark. “How could you not think of them? What a terrible, scary thing that happened,” she said.

More than three decades after a New York woman vanished without anyone reporting her missing, the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer is set to face an eighth murder charge, the BBC has confirmed. Rex Heuermann, a 62-year-old New York architect already charged with seven killings linked to the Long Island Gilgo Beach serial murder case, will be formally charged with the death of Karen Vergata, attorney John Ray – who represents multiple victims’ families in the case – confirmed to media outlets.

Vergata disappeared on Valentine’s Day in 1996 at the age of 34, and unusually, no one ever filed a missing person report for her after her vanishing. Partial remains of her body were first discovered that same year on Fire Island, with additional remains located later at Gilgo Beach, and her remains were formally identified through DNA testing in 2023.

Heuermann was first taken into custody outside his Manhattan office in July 2023, initially charged with the murders of three sex workers: 24-year-old Melissa Barthelemy, 22-year-old Megan Waterman, and 27-year-old Amber Costello. Over the subsequent 18 months, prosecutors added four more murder charges to his indictment, covering the deaths of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, Jessica Taylor, 20, Valerie Mack, 24, and Sandra Costilla, 28. All seven victims were confirmed to be sex workers, and most of their remains were found within a short distance of Heuermann’s Long Island residence.

Heuermann has previously pleaded not guilty to all seven existing murder charges, but court sources indicate he is expected to change his plea to guilty during a scheduled court appearance on Wednesday. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office announced via social media on Tuesday that it would host a press conference immediately after Wednesday’s court proceeding to share details of a “major development” in the long-running homicide investigation.

The sprawling investigation into the Gilgo Beach killings first launched in 2010, when police stumbled upon the remains of 18 people while searching for a missing woman along the coastal stretch of Long Island. Prosecutors have laid out extensive evidence collected during their probe, including a handwritten planning document found in Heuermann’s possession that detailed pre-crime preparation. The document was split into columns labeled “problems” and “supplies,” with DNA evidence, tire tracks, and blood stains listed as potential risks to mitigate. It also documented killing methods Heuermann had researched and takeaways from his previous alleged murders. Investigators also seized more than 300 firearms and hundreds of electronic devices from Heuermann’s home as part of evidence gathering.