Lengthy federal prison sentence handed down for Kansas City Chiefs superfan ‘ChiefsAholic‘
Xaviar Babudar, the Kansas City Chiefs superfan known for his costumed persona “ChiefsAholic,” who was accused of terrorizing victims at banks and credit unions during a multi-state robbery spree in 2022 and 2023, was sentenced Thursday to 17 and a half years in federal prison.
Prosecutors have said Babudar stole nearly $850,000 from banks and credit unions during a 16-month stretch, and in many of the robberies, brandished what appeared to be a gun.
In handing down the lengthy sentence, Judge Howard Sachs in U.S. District Court in Kansas City also ordered Babudar, 30, to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution to victims. Sachs declined to elevate the sentence further, noting that the weapon Babudar used was a BB gun.
During Babudar’s sentencing hearing Thursday, Sachs heard testimony from a pair of victims from financial institutions Babudar was accused of robbing.
In a statement read on behalf of one of the victims, an employee relayed the terror of the November 2022 robbery, including how Babudar jumped over the counter with a gun and threatened employees, as well as how after the robbery they quit their job without a new one lined up, and how the trauma from that day has lingered.
“Every morning I think about the robbery before I go to work,” they wrote.
Another victim told of how Babudar robbed her branch twice, once in March 2022 and again a few months later in November 2022. That victim described another teller who reported having a gun imprint on her skin for more than an hour after a robbery, and bruising for several days.
“I still have nightmares about my bank being robbed,” the woman said.
Babudar apologized to the victims and said he continues to bear guilt for his actions.
“Every day is a reminder of that shame I must carry,” he said.
Babudar’s attorney, Matthew Merryman, wrote in court documents the robberies were prompted by debts Babudar had amassed under an “all consuming” gambling addiction. He told Sachs Thursday that Babudar has had time to reflect on the trauma he caused the victims and said he was on a path to show he could be redeemed.
“He’s so ashamed that he doesn’t even allow his family to visit,” he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Daly likened Babudar to the Great Depression-era bank robbers, like the Dillinger Gang, who prompted the legislation that made bank robberies a federal crime almost 100 years ago.
The gambling was a means to an end and was used to conceal the proceeds from the robberies, he said.
“If he’s addicted to anything,” Daly said, “it’s fame.”
Babudar, famous for his Chiefs-themed wolf costume reminiscent of the team’s mascot K.C. Wolf, became a high-profile figure on social media and was a regular presence at Chiefs games from 2018 through 2021. Sachs sentenced Babudar just hours before the Chiefs were set to kickoff the 2024-2025 season against the Baltimore Ravens.
Babudar pleaded guilty in February to three charges in connection with a string of robberies or attempted robberies of nearly a dozen banks and credit unions across seven states in 2022 and 2023. They include a count of money laundering, a count of transporting stolen property across state lines and a count of bank robbery.
As part of his plea earlier this year, Babudar admitted to robberies or attempted robberies in Clive, Iowa; Bixby, Oklahoma; Omaha, Nebraska; West Des Moines, Iowa; Nashville, Tennessee; Savage, Minnesota; Apple Valley, Minnesota; Papillion, Nebraska; Sparks, Nevada, and Eldorado Hills, California.
Babudar was arrested in Oklahoma in December 2022 and was eventually released on bond with a GPS monitoring requirement. He removed the ankle monitor, fled and robbed two more banks before he was tracked to California and arrested in July 2023, according to prosecutors.
The Star’s Robert Cronkleton contributed reporting to this story.
This story was originally published September 5, 2024 at 1:24 PM.
