Chiefs Superfan Sentenced to 17 Years for Bank Robbery Spree to Fund Stardom

A federal judge has sentenced Xavier Babudar, known as the Kansas City Chiefs superfan “ChiefsAholic,” to over 17 years in prison for a series of 11 bank robberies across seven states, where he stole nearly $850,000 to finance his social media stardom.

Babudar, 30, learned his fate Thursday, coinciding with the Kansas City Chiefs gearing up for their season opener against the Baltimore Ravens. He will now serve 17 and a half years in prison for the bank robberies he admitted to earlier this year.

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With a large online following on his @ChiefsAholic account, Babudar became known for attending games dressed as a wolf in Chiefs gear. His devotion to the team earned him social media fame, although he pales in comparison to the attention garnered since pop superstar Taylor Swift began dating Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce last year.

According to U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore, Babudar financed his expensive game tickets and travels across the country through his robbery spree, cultivating a massive fan base online. However, bank and credit union employees terrorized at gunpoint by Babudar experienced the dark side of his exploits.

Most of the stolen money was never recovered, prompting the court to order Babudar to pay over $530,000 in restitution and forfeit items used to launder the money, including an autographed painting of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes that the FBI recovered. Furthermore, Babudar faces a $10.8 million penalty to an Oklahoma bank teller he assaulted during one of his robberies, an amount he is unlikely to ever repay. Prosecutors revealed that a significant portion of the stolen funds was laundered through casinos and online gambling.

Babudar’s string of robberies or attempted robberies spanned Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Tennessee, Minnesota, Nevada, and California in 2022 and 2023. Notably, he committed two robberies after cutting off his ankle monitor while out on bond and fleeing Oklahoma. He even targeted the same bank in Clive, Iowa, twice in 2022, despite the bank undergoing a name change in the interim.

Furthermore, his initial arrest in 2022 found him in possession of a bag containing $289,750 in cash, $24,000 in betting slips, and bank deposit slips showing earlier deposits of $20,000 and $50,000 into his account.

Before the 2022 season, Babudar placed two winning $5,000 bets predicting the Chiefs would win Super Bowl LVII and that Mahomes would be named the game’s Most Valuable Player. He collected a $100,000 check from the Argosy Casino in Illinois before evading authorities, purchasing a vehicle with some of his winnings to facilitate his escape.

Babudar was eventually arrested in Sacramento, California, in July 2023 and has remained in federal custody since.