Kansas City Chiefs superfan pleads guilty to bank robbery and money laundering
By Melissa Alonso, CNN
(CNN) — A Kansas City Chiefs superfan known as ChiefsAholic has pleaded guilty to federal bank robbery and other charges, admitting to a violent string of robberies of banks and credit unions in seven states, then to laundering the stolen money through casinos, a federal prosecutor in Missouri announced.
Xaviar Michael Babudar, 29, also pleaded guilty Wednesday to money laundering and taking stolen property across state lines, admitting he engaged in 11 bank and credit union robberies or attempted robberies in 2022 and 2023, the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri said in a news release.
Babudar – known for attending NFL games “dressed as a wolf in Chiefs clothing,” the office said – “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,” US Attorney Teresa Moore said.
Babudar – known for attending NFL games “dressed as a wolf in Chiefs clothing,” the office said – “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,” US Attorney Teresa Moore said.
He faces up to 50 years in federal prison without parole under the agreement, the news release states. He’s due to be sentenced July 10.
Under his plea deal, Babudar must pay at least $532,675 to the victim financial institutions and forfeit “any property involved in his money laundering activity, including an autographed painting of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II that has been recovered by the FBI.”
Robbery and gambling spree detailed
Babudar pleaded guilty first to robbing an Iowa bank in March 2022, “wearing a ski mask and (handing) the bank teller a note demanding money and indicating he had a firearm,” the release stated. He admitted robbing a Nebraska bank with a firearm the next month, it said.
Then that June, Babudar placed two bets at an Illinois casino: $5,000 that Mahomes would win the Most Valuable Player at Super Bowl LVII, with a $45,000 payout; and $5,000 that the Chiefs would win that game, with a $55,000 payout, the release said.
Both won.
Babudar then stole from several other financial institutions, at least some at gunpoint – before getting arrested in December 2022 after he robbed an Oklahoma credit union, the prosecutor’s office said. He was released on bond last February.
The Illinois casino early the next month sent Babudar a $100,000 check for his Super Bowl winnings, the news release said.
Days later, he cut his ankle monitor and fled, it said. He used his Super Bowl payouts to buy a vehicle and evade law enforcement – while robbing more banks – until his arrest in July in California.
“His violent crime spree across the Midwest and beyond traumatized bank employees and victimized financial institutions in seven states,” Moore said. “He will be held accountable for the full scope of his criminal conduct, including his attempt to flee from justice.”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
