Taylor Swift was there, as was every other die-hard fan dressed in red, as the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens 27-20 to open the NFL season on Thursday night at home.
With one exception.
A man popularly known as “ChiefsAholic” for wearing a gray wolf suit to gambling games was sentenced Thursday for committing 11 bank robberies in which he stole nearly $850,000 in seven states and laundered the money through casinos.
U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs sentenced Xaviar Michael Babudar to 17 1/2 years in federal prison without parole, according to the U.S. attorney's office. The court also ordered Babudar to pay more than $500,000 in restitution.
Babudar, 30, and federal authorities reached a plea agreement in February. He was arrested after spending four months on the run and admitted to committing robberies in 2022 and 2023. In August 2023, he was charged with three counts of armed bank robbery, one count of bank larceny, 11 counts of money laundering and four counts of transporting stolen property across state lines.
“While posing as a social media celebrity, the defendant secretly engaged in a violent crime spree of armed robberies and attempted robberies across seven states,” U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore said in a statement. “Babudar's robbery spree funded expensive tickets and trips across the country to attend Kansas City Chiefs games while cultivating a large online fan base.
“However, the bank and credit union employees he terrorized at gunpoint suffered the brunt of his true nature. He tried to flee justice, but law enforcement caught up with him and he will now spend a significant portion of his life in prison.”
Bank employees who were victims of Babudar testified or provided written statements at his sentencing hearing.
“I still have nightmares about being robbed at the bank,” one victim told the court.
Another victim wrote in a statement: “Every morning, I think about the robbery before I go to work.”
Babudar made a brief statement during the hearing: “Every day is a reminder of the shame I have to bear.”
More than a dozen charges were dismissed in the plea agreement, which also stipulates that he must forfeit to the government any ill-gotten property, including an autographed painting of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The revelation that “ChiefsAholic” was a criminal shook a Chiefs fan base that can come to revere Babudar, who said he wore the wolf costume to honor the team’s mascot, KC Wolf.
Babudar was initially arrested in December 2022 in Oklahoma and released on bail to serve house arrest. However, prosecutors allege he removed his ankle monitor and robbed two more banks. He was captured by the FBI near Sacramento after spending months on the run.
In April, an Oklahoma judge ordered Babudar to pay bank teller Payton Garcia $3.6 million for causing her physical harm and emotional distress and $7.2 million in punitive damages. He held a black pistol to her head while stealing $150,000 from the Tulsa Teachers Credit Union.
Garcia's attorney, Frank Frasier, acknowledged that while it will be nearly impossible for Garcia to collect the award, the judgment still has value.
“He’s never going to be able to profit from this,” Frasier told ESPN. “Let’s say he writes a book in prison, let’s say he does the Lifetime or Hallmark movie — whatever he gets from that he’s going to pay back to his creditors.”
Meanwhile, Babudar was deprived Thursday of his favorite activity, putting on a wolf costume and cheering on the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. He missed the thrilling rematch of last season's AFC title game, which Kansas City won by a touchdown in Baltimore.
This time, Ravens receiver Isaiah Likely appeared to catch the tying touchdown pass with no time left on the clock, but replay revealed his right toe was just in the back of the end zone, giving the Chiefs the win.
