Xaviar Babudar, better known to Kansas City Chiefs fans as the wolf-suit-wearing superfan “Chiefsaholic,” has been sentenced to 17-and-a-half years in prison without the possibility of parole, followed by three years of supervised release, for a string of bank robberies across the Midwest. The 29-year-old’s sentencing concludes a bizarre criminal saga that has left many in disbelief.
Babudar pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of bank robbery, money laundering, and transporting stolen property across state lines. His sentence comes as a result of what U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore described as a “violent crime spree across the Midwest.” Babudar had faced the potential of spending up to 50 years behind bars for his actions.
“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,” Moore said in a statement. “With today’s conviction, he will be held accountable for the full scope of his criminal conduct, including his attempt to flee from justice.”
As part of his plea agreement, Babudar will be required to pay more than $530,000 in restitution to the banks he robbed. Adding a unique twist to the case, he must also forfeit an autographed painting of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes—an item likely considered a prized possession for the die-hard Chiefs fan.
Babudar first gained notoriety not for his crimes, but for his frequent appearances at Kansas City Chiefs games, where he was known for wearing a wolf costume and cheering on the team from the stands. His transformation from superfan to bank robber became public in December 2022 when he was arrested in Bixby, Oklahoma, after robbing a Tulsa Teachers Credit Union branch. Babudar was accused of pointing a pistol at a bank teller and escaping with approximately $150,000. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in November but was ultimately convicted.
Following his initial arrest, Babudar was held in jail until February 2023, when he was released on bond. However, just days after his release, he cut off his ankle monitor and went on the run for four months, evading law enforcement until the FBI tracked him down and arrested him in California in July 2023.
Authorities later linked Babudar to a series of unsolved bank robberies in Nebraska, Iowa, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. One of the more notable cases included a robbery of the Great Western Bank in Clive, Iowa, where Babudar made off with $70,000. His crime spree, spanning multiple states, stunned many who knew him as the enthusiastic fan cheering for the Chiefs in a wolf costume rather than a criminal mastermind orchestrating bank heists.
Babudar’s sentencing was announced just hours before the Kansas City Chiefs kicked off their season against the Baltimore Ravens, an ironic end to a story that has blurred the lines between fandom and felony. Though he once cheered for his team from the stands, Babudar will now spend the next 17-and-a-half years behind bars, paying the price for his crimes.
