Latest news with #Babudar
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Oklahoma judge sentences 'Chiefsaholic' in Tulsa robbery
TULSA, Okla. — An Oklahoma judge added more prison time to a well-known Chiefs fan known as 'Chiefsaholic' and for his string of robberies across the country to fund his obsession with the Super Bowl team. On Monday, Xavier Babudar, 30, was sentenced to 34 years in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Both his state and his 17.5-year federal sentence will run together. Upon completing his federal sentence, he will serve 14.5 years in the Oklahoma prison system. Babudar's robbery spree over seven states enabled him to purchase expensive tickets to Kansas City Chiefs games and cultivate a large online following as 'Chiefsaholic,' a knockoff of the Chiefs' official mascot, K.C. Wolf. The Chief's Superfan pleaded guilty in Tulsa District Court to robbery with a dangerous weapon and assault while masked or disguised in connection with a 2022 robbery of the Tulsa Teachers Federal Credit Union in Bixby, Oklahoma. He also pleaded to remove an electronic monitoring device. The Kansas City Chiefs Superfan confessed to holding the bank employee at gunpoint and ordered her to open the vault, while he stole $139,000. Payton Garcia, the victim of the robbery, filed a civil suit against Babudar and was awarded $1.6 million for losses, $2 million for emotional damages, and $7.2 million in punitive damages. He is currently serving a 17-year federal sentence in Leavenworth, Kan., for a string of robberies in seven states that funded his obsession with the Kansas City Chiefs. Babudar's attorney asked for 22 years, saying, 'Babudar pleaded guilty to all counts and is taking responsibility for his actions. He is extremely remorseful and is fully prepared to serve his sentence and work to rehabilitate himself from his transgressions,' court records show. According to a brief filed in May, Tulsa prosecutors countered the 22-year sentence with a life sentence: 'This Court lacks any legitimate evidence of rehabilitative intent; it only has evidence of propensity to recidivate. At 29 years of age, Babudar's youth suggests a long recidivism risk.' Babudar made a 'mockery of Oklahoma law on a national stage when he exploited the court's bond leniency to resume his crime spree.' OKLAHOMA STATE'S BRIEF AS TO SENTENCING 'His disregard for Oklahoma law deepened as he committed two additional bank robberies while a fugitive: specifically, the robbery of Heritage Bank in Sparks, Nevada, and the robbery of U.S. Bank in El Dorado Hills, California,' the brief states. 'He engaged in these crimes with similar violent tactics- terrorizing bank employees through the threat of a weapon,' the state continued. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
'ChiefsAholic' superfan gets state prison sentence tacked onto federal term for bank robberies
Like Patrick Mahomes marching the Kansas City Chiefs on another game-winning drive, Xavier Michael Babudar — aka the "ChiefsAholic" superfan — can be counted on to put numbers on the board. A court on Monday in Oklahoma sentenced the serial bank robber to a 32-year term in state prison that will run concurrently with his federal sentence of 17½ years. After Babudar serves the federal term — without the possibility of parole — he will be transferred to state prison to spend 14½ more years. Babudar, 30, admitted to 11 robberies in 2022 and 2023 across seven states from California to Tennessee. His guilty and no contest pleas in both federal and state courts squeezed what could have been drawn-out trial proceedings into the judicial equivalent of two-minute drills. His lawyer, Brett Swab, said Babudar 'expressed sincere remorse and took full responsibility for his actions" in court Monday. When not terrorizing bank and credit union employees at gunpoint, Babudar attended NFL games all over the country dressed up as the "ChiefsAholic," beloved by fans of the three-time Super Bowl champions because he wore a wolf costume that covered his face to games, ostensibly to honor Chiefs mascot K.C. Wolf. Talk about a wolf in Chiefs clothing. Read more: 'ChiefsAholic' missed Kansas City's opening win after getting 17½ years for bank robbery That, not surprisingly, is the title of a true-crime documentary about Babudar's secret life as a serial bank robber directed by Dylan Sires. Catch it on Amazon Prime. Even though Babudar admitted his crimes, Tulsa County Dist. Atty. Steve Kunzweiler was disappointed that his recommendation of a life sentence wasn't granted. 'I think he caught a break,' Kunzweiler told Tulsa television station KJRH. 'I look like how he'll probably look when he gets out of prison. I'm 63 years old, and I don't put it past him to be able to go out and start committing other crimes.' Federal prosecutors were equally strident about putting Babudar away for as long as possible. He was convicted of stealing $847,725 from financial institutions, and several robberies were at gunpoint. Read more: 7 Chileans accused of stealing millions in valuables from Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Joe Burrow In one particularly egregious episode, he stole $125,900 from the Nashville branch of the Tennessee Credit Union by climbing over the bank teller counter, pressing a firearm against the teller's body and demanding to be taken to the vault. Babudar told employees that if he was given fake bills or a dye pack, he would 'come back and put a bullet in your head.' Within days, he was back at Arrowhead Stadium, cheering on the Chiefs and signing autographs for children. '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,' U.S. Atty. Teresa Moore said at his federal sentencing in September. 'Babudar's 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. 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.' After initially being arrested in Oklahoma in December 2022, Babudar was released on bond two months later. Read more: LA Times Today: 7 Chileans accused of stealing millions in valuables from Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Joe Burrow Months earlier, he had placed two $5,000 bets at the Argosy Casino in Alton, Ill., one on Mahomes winning the Most Valuable Player award at Super Bowl LVII and the other on the Chiefs winning the game. He won both bets and they paid $100,000, which the casino mailed to him in March 2023. Babudar cut his ankle monitor, fled from Oklahoma and used his gambling winnings to purchase a vehicle near Las Vegas. He evaded law enforcement and continued to rob banks until his arrest in Sacramento on July 7, 2023. He's been incarcerated since, and will continue to be for decades. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
13-05-2025
- Los Angeles Times
‘Chiefsaholic' superfan gets state prison sentence tacked onto federal term for bank robberies
Like Patrick Mahomes marching the Kansas City Chiefs on another game-winning drive, Xavier Michael Babudar — aka the 'ChiefsAholic' superfan — can be counted on to put numbers on the board. A court on Monday in Oklahoma sentenced the serial bank robber to a 32-year term in state prison that will run concurrently with his federal sentence of 17½ years. After Babudar serves the federal term — without the possibility of parole — he will be transferred to state prison to spend 14½ more years. Babudar, 30, admitted to 11 robberies in 2022 and 2023 across seven states from California to Tennessee. His guilty and no contest pleas in both federal and state courts squeezed what could have been drawn-out trial proceedings into the judicial equivalent of two-minute drills. His lawyer, Brett Swab, said Babudar 'expressed sincere remorse and took full responsibility for his actions' in court Monday. When not terrorizing bank and credit union employees at gunpoint, Babudar attended NFL games all over the country dressed up as the 'ChiefsAholic,' beloved by fans of the three-time Super Bowl champions because he wore a wolf costume that covered his face to games, ostensibly to honor Chiefs mascot KC Wolf. Talk about a wolf in Chiefs clothing. That, not surprisingly, is the title of a true-crime documentary about Babudar's secret life as a serial bank robber directed by Dylan Sires. Catch it on Amazon Prime. Even though Babudar admitted his crimes, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler was disappointed that his recommendation of a life sentence wasn't granted. 'I think he caught a break,' Kunzweiler told Tulsa television station KJRH. 'I look like how he'll probably look when he gets out of prison. I'm 63 years old, and I don't put it past him to be able to go out and start committing other crimes.' Federal prosecutors were equally strident about putting Babudar away for as long as possible. He was convicted of stealing $847,725 from financial institutions, and several robberies were at gunpoint. In one particularly egregious episode, he stole $125,900 from the Nashville branch of the Tennessee Credit Union by climbing over the bank teller counter, pressing a firearm against the teller's body and demanding to be taken to the vault. Babudar told employees that if he was given fake bills or a dye pack, he would 'come back and put a bullet in your head.' Within days, he was back at Arrowhead Stadium, cheering on the Chiefs and signing autographs for children. '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,' U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore said at his federal sentencing in September. 'Babudar's 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. 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.' After initially being arrested in Oklahoma in December 2022, Babudar was released on bond two months later. Months earlier, he had placed two $5,000 bets at the Argosy Casino in Alton, Ill., one on Mahomes winning the Most Valuable Player award at Super Bowl LVII and the other on the Chiefs winning the game. He won both bets and they paid $100,000, which the casino mailed to him in March 2023. Babudar cut his ankle monitor, fled from Oklahoma and used his gambling winnings to purchase a vehicle near Las Vegas. He evaded law enforcement and continued to rob banks until his arrest in Sacramento on July 7, 2023. He's been incarcerated since, and will continue to be for decades.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chiefs Superfan Receives 32 Years in Prison After Pleading Guilty to Oklahoma Bank Robbery
Kansas City Chiefs superfan Xaviar Babudar has been sentenced to 32 years in prison in connection with a December 2022 bank robbery in Bixby, Okla., according to reports Babudar, 30, is currently serving 17 years in federal prison for multiple bank robberies across the country; he will serve the sentences concurrently, meaning he will spend more than 14 years in an Oklahoma prison after finishing his federal sentence Babudar earned notoriety as a Chiefs superfan after he dressed up as a wolf at the team's gamesKansas City Chiefs superfan Xaviar Babudar has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for a 2022 bank robbery that he committed in Bixby, Okla. Babudar, 30, was sentenced in an Oklahoma courtroom on Monday, May 12 after carrying out a robbery at a Tulsa Teachers Credit Union, 2 News Oklahoma, ESPN and KSL News reported. The notorious Chief superfan will serve the sentence concurrently with a 17-year federal prison sentence that he is currently serving for multiple bank robberies, per the outlets. This means he'll serve more than 14 years in an Oklahoma prison after completing his federal sentence. Babudar pleaded guilty to one count of robbery with a firearm, one count of assault while masked or disguised, and one count of removing an electronic monitoring device, per ESPN. Babudar, also known as 'Chiefsaholic,' earned notoriety on social media as a Chiefs superfan who dressed up as a wolf at the team's games. He was arrested in December 2022 and again in July 2023, before confessing to carrying out a series of robberies in February 2024, per AP. Babudar admitted to robbing 11 banks in total across eight states, according to reports. In December 2022, Babudar stopped at the bank in Bixby while heading to a Chiefs game and pointed a gun at a bank teller before fleeing with $150,000. He was captured by police shortly and released on bond in February 2023, per ESPN and 2 News Oklahoma. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said after the sentencing on Monday, per KSL News, 'The violence that Babudar exhibited to the employees of the Tulsa Teacher Credit Union was abhorrent. He is a serial robber who traumatized these victims.' Kunzweiler wanted him to receive a life sentence. The judge noted that Babudar did not use a real gun to carry out the robbery, which helped to lessen his sentence, per 2 News Oklahoma. Babudar's attorneys, Brett and Jay-Michael Swab, said his robbery attempts were 'fueled by a gambling addiction and a troubled childhood that left him homeless.' They added that their client is 'remorseful and has found Jesus during his incarceration,' per ESPN. In April 2024, Babudar was ordered by an Oklahoma judge to pay $10.8 million to the teller he assaulted with a gun, per the AP. He was later sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison in September 2024 and was also ordered to pay $532,675 in restitution to the "victim financial institutions,' the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Missouri said in a press release. Prosecutors said a majority of the stolen money was laundered through casinos and online gambling. Babudar also robbed banks or attempted to rob banks in Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Tennessee, Minnesota, Nevada and California in 2022 and 2023. PEOPLE has contacted the Tulsa County District's Office for comment. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Superfan ‘ChiefsAholic' sentenced to prison in Oklahoma for robberies
After receiving a federal prison sentence last year, Kansas City Chiefs superfan Xaviar Babudar, known for his costumed persona 'ChiefsAholic,' was sentenced Monday to additional prison time to be served in Oklahoma, following convictions for a multi-state bank and credit union robbery spree. Babudar was sentenced to 32 years in prison in Tulsa County, after being found guilty of one count of robbery with a firearm, one count of assault while masked or disguised, and one count of removing an electronic monitoring device. Last September, Babudar was sentenced to over 17 years in federal prison in U.S. District Court in Kansas City after pleading guilty to three charges in connection with a string of robberies or attempted robberies of nearly a dozen banks and credit unions across seven states in 2022 and 2023. They include a count of money laundering, a count of transporting stolen property across state lines, and a count of bank robbery. In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Judge Michelle Keely County issued Babudar's 32-year sentence to run concurrently with his federal sentence, according to a news release from Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler. The infamous superfan will spend 17 and a half years in federal prison, and then be transferred to Oklahoma to serve his remaining 14 and a half years. 'The violence that Babudar exhibited to the employees of the Tulsa Teacher Credit Union was abhorrent,' Kunzweiler said in the release. 'He is a serial robber who traumatized these victims and numerous other victims across this country.' Babudar, famous for his Chiefs-themed wolf costume reminiscent of the team's mascot K.C. Wolf, became a high-profile figure on social media and was a regular presence at Chiefs games from 2018 through 2021, prior to his arrest on the robbery charges. On December 16, 2022, Babudar robbed the Tulsa Teachers Credit Union in Bixby wearing a mask and armed with a gun, according to the release. He used his firearm, later determined to be a BB gun, to demand that bank employees retrieve money from the safe. Babudar left once he had the money, but was quickly apprehended by Bixby police, the release says. Less than two months after his arrest, Babudar's bond was lowered. He bonded out of jail on Feb. 8, 2023, and was ordered to wear an ankle monitor. Reports show Babudar removed his ankle monitor on March 25, 2023, the release says. Babudar did not appear for a March 27 court date and was apprehended by federal authorities in July 2023 in California. Federal prosecutors have said Babudar stole nearly $850,000 from banks and credit unions during a 16-month stretch, and in many of the robberies, brandished what appeared to be a gun. As part of his plea in his federal case, Babudar admitted to robberies or attempted robberies in Clive, Iowa; Bixby, Oklahoma; Omaha, Nebraska; West Des Moines, Iowa; Nashville, Tennessee; Savage, Minnesota; Apple Valley, Minnesota; Papillion, Nebraska; Sparks, Nevada, and Eldorado Hills, California. The Star's Robert Cronkleton and Nathan Pilling contributed reporting to this story.
