Xavier Babudar, aka “ChiefsAholic,” faces bank robbery charges. (Mug shot from Tulsa County Sheriff, wolf fan costume photo from New York Post)
The man known as the Kansas City Chiefs superfan “ChiefsAholic” admitted to leading a double life as a prolific ski-mask-wearing bank robber who won a $100,000 Super Bowl bet while he was a fugitive.
Xaviar Michael Babudar, 29, pleaded guilty to charges of bank robbery, money laundering and transporting stolen property across state lines. Babudar admitted he committed, or tried to commit, 11 robberies at banks and credit unions, two of them while on the run. He was ordered to pay at least $532,675 in restitution and forfeit property, including an autographed painting of Mahomes that the FBI recovered.
“His violent crime spree across the Midwest and beyond traumatized bank employees and victimized financial institutions in seven states,” said U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore in a news release. “The defendant tried to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen cash by using it to gamble online and at casinos, but the odds caught up with him. With today’s conviction, he will be held accountable for the full scope of his criminal conduct, including his attempt to flee from justice.”
The first heist he admitted to was when he stole $70,000 from a Great Western Bank in Clive, Iowa, on March 2, 2022. He handed the teller a note demanding money and indicating he had a gun.
On April 28, 2022, he stole $170,860 from the First National Bank of Omaha in Nebraska. Police recovered $163,560 from that case.
At the First Class Community Credit Union in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 13, 2022, he jumped over the counter armed with a silver and black gun and demanded employees open the vault. He got $303,845 that day.
He took the money to Missouri, laundered it through area casinos, and deposited it into his bank account, prosecutors said.
At the Tennessee Credit Union in Nashville on Nov. 17, 2022, he hopped the counter, pressed his gun against a teller’s body and demanded to be taken to the vault. Employees complied with his demands. He told the employees if he was given a dye pack, he would “come back and put a bullet in your head,” prosecutors said.
While fleeing, he left behind a hat that authorities recovered and found DNA that matched DNA from a glove he left behind in an earlier robbery. A few days after the heist in Nashville, Babudar bought $20,000 in chips from a local casino with some of the cash.
Babudar tried to rob the Wings Financial Credit Union in Savage, Minnesota, on Nov. 29, 2022, but decided not to, as the vault only held small bills. The same day, he tried again at the Royal Credit Union in Apple Valley, Minnesota, but they, too, carried small bills. But he made up for it the next day when he got $25,000 from First Interstate Bank in Clive, Iowa. He went back to the place he first robbed in March, but then his luck started to run out.
He entered the vestibule at the Pinnacle Bank in Papillon, Nebraska, on Dec. 15, 2022, but couldn’t open the doors.
He was arrested the following day when he robbed the Tulsa Teachers Federal Credit Union.
When authorities found him, he had a large bag with $139,500 in $100 increments and $10,750 in $50 increments for $150,250. A search of his 2019 Mazda 3 turned up goggles and gloves. Investigators also found sports betslips, totaling $24,000 and credit union deposit letters for $20,000 and $50,000, authorities said.
During his spree, he won two big bets at the Argosy Casino in Illinois — that Mahomes would win Most Valuable Player at Super Bowl LVII and that the Chiefs would win the Super Bowl. After the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 on Feb. 13, 2023, and Mahomes won MVP, the casino mailed Babudar a $100,000 check in March.
Days after receiving that check, Babudar, who had been released from custody on bond after his arrest in Oklahoma, cut his ankle monitor, fled that state and used his gambling winnings to purchase a vehicle in Henderson, Nevada.
While on the run, he robbed two more banks, one in Sparks, Nevada, and another in El Dorado Hills, California, before he was rearrested in Sacramento on July 7.
He faces up to 50 years in federal prison without parole. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 10.
Law&Crime’s David Harris contributed to this report.
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