The Daily Populous Monday September 9th, 2024 night edition
Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by RhythmMethodMan

A Kansas City Chiefs super fan will spend more than 17 years behind bars for his role in a string of bank robberies across multiple states.

Xaviar Michael Babudar, 30, who is well known for his online personality "ChiefsAholic," was sentenced to 210 months in prison without parole in Kansas City federal court Thursday morning, which amounts to 17½ years, according to federal court documents.

Following his sentence, Babudar will face three years of supervised release, according to the sentencing documents. The judge also ordered him to pay more than $500,000 in restitution.

He was also ordered to forfeit “any property involved in his money laundering activity,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri, including an autographed painting of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Babudar was charged in a string of 11 robberies or attempted robberies across seven states during which he stole nearly $850,000, prosecutors said.

He pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering and one count of transporting stolen property across state lines in February, and also to a count of bank robbery in a separate case out of Oklahoma, prosecutors said. He was also sentenced to 17 ½ years in the Oklahoma case and will serve both sentences concurrently.

He also admitted to a string of nine bank and credit union robberies in 2022, and two more while he was a fugitive, prosecutors said.

“While parading as a social media celebrity, the defendant secretly engaged in a violent crime spree of armed robberies and attempted robberies across seven states,” said U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore in the statement.

She said his “robbery spree bankrolled the expensive tickets and travel across the country to attend Kansas City Chiefs games while he cultivated a large fan base online.”

“However, the bank and credit union employees whom he terrorized at gunpoint suffered the brunt of his true nature,” Moore said. “He tried to flee from justice, but law enforcement caught up with him and now he will spend a significant portion of his life in prison.”

Matthew Merryman, a lawyer for Babudar, said Thursday they "achieved a fair and just outcome" in court.

"The sentence handed down reflects our unwavering commitment to reducing and mitigating the numerous charges and potential decades of imprisonment he faced," Merryman said in a statement.

"Xaviar extends his heartfelt thanks to his followers and fans, reassuring everyone that this is not the final chapter," Merryman added. "He promises to 'howl' again!!!"

Babudar was first arrested in December 2022 in connection with a robbery at Tulsa Teachers Federal Credit Union in Oklahoma.

He was released from jail in February 2023 and removed his ankle monitor the following month, and was a fugitive until authorities found him in July, when he was connected to a series of other bank robberies, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Missouri said.

In July 2023, he was arrested again and accused of committing a string of robberies at banks and credit unions across the Midwest before laundering his earnings at Kansas City-area casinos and depositing the proceeds in various bank accounts, the office said.

In April, Babudar was also ordered to pay $10.8 million to a bank teller who said he assaulted her with a gun during the December 2022 robbery in Oklahoma.

The judge recommended Babudar serve time at FCI Greenville, a medium-security prison in Greenville, Illinois.

othermother on September 8th, 2024 at 18:21 UTC »

I need to know more about how he was such a successful bank robber more than once. I mean 11 times before he got caught?!

Extra_Pilot_1992 on September 8th, 2024 at 17:15 UTC »

I’d say he got away with it for just 17 years

JJamesP on September 8th, 2024 at 15:20 UTC »

Murderers have received less time.