KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Chiefs superfan is sentenced on the same day the team he loves opens a new season.
A federal judge sentenced Xaviar Babudar, also known as ChiefsAholic, to more than 17 years in prison during a hearing Thursday morning.
Babudar pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs in February to one count of money laundering and one count of transporting stolen property across state lines. Babudar also pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery for robbing a credit union near Tulsa. The charges are linked to 11 bank robberies, or attempted robberies, in seven states.
Court documents show Babudar laundered much of the stolen money through area casinos and online gambling.
Babudar faces up to 50 years in prison when he is sentenced. He is also required to pay $532,000 in restitution and forfeit an autographed painting of Patrick Mahomes.
Babudar was first arrested on Dec. 16, 2022, following a credit union robbery near Tulsa, Okla.
According to court documents, Babudar cut his ankle monitor and escaped as he awaited trial in Oklahoma. The same documents show he disappeared just days after a casino paid him $100,000 in winning Super Bowl bets he made on the Chiefs.
He was on the run for months before his arrest in Sacramento, California in July 2023.
Federal court documents released following Babudar’s arrest in California accuse Babudar of robbing financial institutions throughout 2022 to bankroll his life attending Kansas City Chiefs games and other exclusive events.
Babudar also faces charges in Oklahoma.
The first witness statement was written by a bank employee in Nashville, Tennessee where Babudar stole $125,900. She wrote about experiencing PTSD more than a year after the incident where he climbed over the bank teller counter, pressed a firearm against the teller’s body, and demanded that credit union employees take him to the vault.
Another witness statement was made in person by a bank employee from Iowa where Babudar stole from twice. She said she is filled with guilt about not being able to stop something like this happening from her staff. She shared a similar story of him running in, jumping over a counter, pointing a gun at her staff, and pressing the firearm against the teller’s body. Six people were in the bank the second time he came to steal from the bank. She teared up at the end of her statement sharing the traumatic experience.
Babudar is feeling guilt, remorse, and shame from his actions. He apologized to the victims and their families.
He thanked the prosecution’s office for allowing him this chance he is calling, “a path to correction,” as he becomes closer to his religion.
He thanked the Kansas City community and Chiefsaholic fans as he never knew what a home was like until he saw support for him.
Babudar’s attorney Matthew T. Merryman, Esq. with the Bates Merryman Law Firm LLC shared with the judge his reasoning for a 10-year sentence before the decision was made.
He said Babudar experienced chronic homelessness as a child alongside his family and he was not ready to become a popular figure in Kansas City after seeing social media success as Chiefsaholic.
He said he has reflected on his greed, and selfishness, and feels remorseful for his actions. That he wants to engage with rehabilitation services in prison including help for his gambling addiction.
Senior Litigation Counsel Patrick D. Daly claimed this case was incomparable to another robbery case he was searching for. The amount of money, having to work alongside six U.S. Attorney Offices, and the trauma he created was reasoning for a 20-year sentence.
That Babudar is, “in a class of his own.”
He said the idea of Babudar being around sports in any way will not be beneficial to him or anyone else as sports gambling is incredibly popular across state lines and around the entire country.
This case was prosecuted by Daly and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie C. Bradshaw in the Western District of Missouri, U.S. Attorney Clinton J. Johnson, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O. Johnston in the Northern District of Oklahoma.
It was investigated by the FBI and the Bixby, Okla., Police Department. The Bixby, Okla., Police Department arrested Babudar in December 2022, and the Placer County, Calif., Sheriff’s Department and the Lincoln, Calif., Police Department assisted the FBI in the July 2023 arrest.
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