As the Kansas City Chiefs kick off the 2024 NFL season against the Baltimore Ravens, one of the reigning Super Bowl champions’ most famous fans will be missing from the stands. No, not Taylor Swift: Xavier Babudar, better known as “ChiefsAholic,” was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison following a string of bank robberies across the country.
He was convicted on charges related to 11 robberies in seven states, totaling more than $800,000.
Babudar became famous for dressing up as a wolf to attend Chiefs games, garnering attention throughout the team’s recent championship run with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“While he presented himself as a celebrity on social media, Babudar secretly engaged in a series of violent crimes,” U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore said in a statement Thursday. “Babudar’s series of thefts allowed him to purchase expensive tickets and travel across the country to Kansas City Chiefs games, all while cultivating a large online fan base.”
Babudar was ordered to pay $532,675 in restitution and forfeit all property involved in laundering the stolen money, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release included an autographed photo of Mahomes. The attorney’s office said most of the money Babudar stole has not been recovered.
Badubar was first charged in December 2022 following a series of attempted and successful robberies and was released on bail in February 2023. Babudar cut off his ankle monitor and fled authorities in March 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. That was days after he received a check containing the winnings from a successful bet on the Chiefs winning Super Bowl LVII and Mahomes being named Super Bowl MVP in 2023, the attorney’s office said.
He was arrested again in Sacramento in July 2023 and charged with bank robbery and transporting stolen property across state lines in federal court. Babudar admitted to robbing two other banks while on the run and has been held without bail since then.
On February 11, the Kansas City Chiefs won their second consecutive Super Bowl. On February 28, Babudar pleaded guilty to bank robbery, money laundering, and transporting stolen property across state lines. In April, an Oklahoma judge ordered him to pay $10.8 million to a bank employee for injuries and punitive damages suffered during the Bixby robbery.
