Xaviar Babudar, aka ChiefsAholic, at Super Bowl LV in 2021 in Tampa, Fla.Credit. (Photo Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
A judge has ruled that Xaviar Babudar, widely known as Chiefsaholic, must pay $10.8 million to a former bank teller in Bixby, Oklahoma, whom he threatened with a gun during a bank robbery in December 2022.
Background: Chiefsaholic’s Crime Spree
Tulsa County District Judge Tracy L. Priddy issued the order last Wednesday, directing Babudar to compensate Payton Garcia, the former teller, with $3.6 million for causing physical harm and emotional distress, along with $7.2 million in punitive damages.
Babudar’s attorney, Matthew Merryman, did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Garcia’s attorney, Frank Frasier, admitted Monday that collecting the money would be a challenge. Babudar was unemployed and living in cars during the crimes. In February, he reached a federal plea agreement, confessing to stealing over $800,000 in 11 robberies across seven states and laundering the proceeds through casinos. The plea deal mandates him to pay at least $532,675 in restitution to the financial institutions he robbed.
“But the point is two things,” Frasier told ESPN. “He’ll never be able to profit from this. Say he writes a book in prison, say he does the Lifetime or Hallmark movie … anything he obtains from that will be paid to his creditors.
“The second part overall is this: The judge sent a message that you cannot profit from crime. You cannot profit by greater notoriety, you cannot profit from clicks, getting more views, getting more likes.”
Babudar’s Criminal Activities
Babudar, 29, gained a significant social media following as @Chiefsaholic on Twitter and Instagram, portraying himself as an ambitious sports enthusiast who enjoyed gambling and Kansas State sports, particularly the Chiefs. However, an ESPN investigation revealed discrepancies in his online persona.
Babudar was first arrested on December 16, 2022, in Bixby, after fleeing the Tulsa Teachers Credit Union, where he threatened Garcia with a CO2 pistol, demanding money. He escaped a month later after winning $100,000 from two bets on the Chiefs, following his release on bond in February 2023. After evading authorities for nearly four months, they apprehended him on July 7, 2023, in California.
Babudar is currently at Leavenworth federal prison in Kansas and authorities will sentence him in July.
Frasier said Garcia had to leave her job after the robbery and is still dealing with the trauma of the crime.
“This has affected her children, her marriage,” Frasier said. “She’ll never be able to go back into work in banking. [It affected] all aspects of her life.”
This report used information from ESPN.
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