Kansas Metropolis Chiefs superfan Xavier Babudar, also referred to as “Chiefsaholic,” has been sentenced to 17 years and 6 months in jail after he was discovered responsible of stealing practically $850,000 from 11 banks throughout seven states, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace within the Western District of Missouri mentioned in a press release.
Babudar, 30, was sentenced within the Western District of Missouri and Northern District of Oklahoma on Thursday, Sept. 5, the identical day the Chiefs kick off the 2024-25 NFL season in opposition to the Baltimore Ravens. He’ll serve his sentences concurrently.
He was additionally ordered to pay $532,675 in restitution to the “sufferer monetary establishments,” the legal professional’s workplace added. Among the cash has been recovered however not all of it.
Babudar has to forfeit “property concerned in his cash laundering exercise, together with an autographed portray of Kansas Metropolis Chiefs quarterback Patrick L. Mahomes II that has been recovered by the FBI,” per the legal professional’s workplace.
Moreover, in April 2024, Babudar was ordered by an Oklahoma choose to pay $10.8 million to a teller he assaulted with a gun, per the Associated Press.
Babudar earned notoriety for dressing up as a wolf at Chiefs video games through the years and he rapidly grew to become a fixture on social media. After two arrests in December 2022 and July 2023, he admitted to a string of robberies in February 2024, per the AP.
“Babudar’s theft spree bankrolled the costly tickets and journey throughout the nation to attend Kansas Metropolis Chiefs video games whereas he cultivated a big fan base on-line. Nevertheless, the financial institution and credit score union workers whom he terrorized at gunpoint suffered the brunt of his true nature,” U.S. Legal professional Teresa Moore mentioned in Thursday’s press launch.
“The actions of Babudar had been brazen and traumatic for the financial institution workers robbed in Bixby, Oklahoma,” U.S. Legal professional Clint Johnson of the Northern District of Oklahoma added.
“Babudar terrorized financial institution workers all through his multi-state crime spree, whereas relishing his celeb standing,” acknowledged Particular Agent in Cost Stephen Cyrus of the FBI Kansas Metropolis Discipline Workplace.
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Prosecutors mentioned a majority of the stolen cash was laundered by way of casinos and on-line playing. Nevertheless, he robbed banks or tried to rob banks in Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Tennessee, Minnesota, Nevada and California in 2022 and 2023.
Two of these robberies had been dedicated after he minimize off his ankle monitor whereas out on bond and fled from Oklahoma. Moreover, he robbed the identical financial institution in Clive, Iowa, twice in 2022.
When he was first arrested in December 2022 in Oklahoma, his bag had $150,250 in money, betting slips for $24,000, and financial institution deposit letters documenting his deposits for $20,000 and $50,000 earlier that yr, per prosecutors. After being arrested in December 2022, he was launched on bond within the state case in February 2023.
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Forward of the 2022-23 NFL season, he positioned a $5,000 wager that the Chiefs would win Tremendous Bowl LVII, with a $55,000 payout. He additionally performed a $5,000 wager that Mahomes could be named the sport’s Most Beneficial Participant with a $45,000 payout, the discharge added.
After the Chiefs received and Mahomes was named MVP, Babudar was mailed a $100,000 examine from the Argosy On line casino in Illinois and spent a few of his winnings to buy a car he used to evade authorities till his arrest in Sacramento, Calif. on July 7, 2023, per prosecutors.
Since his arrest, he has remained in federal custody with out bond.
