KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs superfan Xaviar Babudar was sentenced to 17½ years in jail with out parole and three years of supervised launch Thursday for committing a string of armed financial institution robberies throughout the USA.
Babudar, broadly generally known as ChiefsAholic, entered a plea deal in February wherein he admitted to stealing greater than $800,000 in 11 robberies throughout seven states and laundering the proceeds via casinos. He pleaded responsible to at least one depend of financial institution theft, one depend of cash laundering and one depend of transporting stolen property throughout state strains.
Dressed head to toe in a grey wolf swimsuit, Babudar, 30, turned a staple at Chiefs video games for years and was adored by followers at Arrowhead Stadium and on social media, the place he crafted a persona of a hardworking, beneficiant bachelor.
In court docket paperwork filed final week, prosecutors mentioned Babudar was capable of attend Chiefs video games and develop the ChiefsAholic persona due to his 16-month theft spree, which started in March 2022.
Carrying a yellow jail jumpsuit and handcuffs throughout his sentencing on the District Courtroom for the Western District of Missouri, Babudar apologized to his victims; to Kansas Metropolis, which he referred to as his dwelling; and to his mom and brother. As he left the courtroom, he blew them a kiss.
Babudar’s legal professional, Matthew Merryman, mentioned Babudar’s robberies had been pushed by playing habit. Patrick Daly, senior litigation counsel on the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace, disagreed.
“It is not an habit to playing. It is not an habit to the Chiefs,” he mentioned. “It is an habit to fame.”
Prosecutors cited an announcement from one theft sufferer, who wrote, “[M]y staff did not should be held at gunpoint twice so a person in a wolf swimsuit might journey the nation watching soccer and inserting extravagant bets.”
Based on the court docket paperwork, Babudar instructed a Nashville credit score union worker that he would “blow your brains out” and that in the event that they gave him a dye pack he would “come again and put a bullet in your head.”
In a separate submitting, Merryman wrote that Babudar is remorseful, hopes to coach in mechanical trades and needs to assist others combating playing habit.
An ESPN investigation discovered that Babudar had a troubled upbringing and a historical past of authorized points and that a lot of what he posted about himself on social media was unfaithful. Merryman wrote in a submitting that Babudar skilled childhood trauma and power homelessness.
Babudar’s secret life unraveled on Dec. 16, 2022, when Bixby, Oklahoma, police arrested him fleeing an armed theft on the Tulsa Academics Credit score Union. He was launched on bond in February 2023 and, a month later — after receiving $100,000 in winnings from two bets on the Chiefs — he minimize off his GPS monitor and escaped.
Babudar evaded authorities for practically 4 months and robbed banks in Sparks, Nevada, and El Dorado Hills, California, whereas on the run. On July 7, 2023, he was arrested in Lincoln, California.
In a court docket submitting, Merryman argued that Babudar ought to obtain a 10-year sentence to permit him time to proper his wrongs.
“On account of his quasi-celebrity standing, Xaviar is in a novel place to probably repay the monetary losses created by his actions,” Merryman wrote.
Babudar is required to pay $532,455 in restitution and forfeit property gained because of his crimes, together with an autographed portray of quarterback Patrick Mahomes that he bought at a charity public sale and has been recovered by the Kansas Metropolis FBI. In April, a choose ordered Babudar to pay $10.8 million to the Bixby teller he threatened with a gun.
Babudar, who has been awaiting sentencing at Leavenworth federal jail in Kansas, requested to be housed on the Greenville federal penitentiary in Illinois.