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'ChiefsAholic' lawyer delivers football-themed statement after client pleads guilty to bank robberies

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp02/28/24
chiefsaholic superfan
Bob Kupbens/Icon Sportswire

There have been some bizarre crossovers when the law and sports mix, and the recent case involving diehard Kansas City Chiefs fan “ChiefsAholic” has proven to be a doozy.

After ChiefsAholic, a 29-year-old man by the name of Xaviar Michael Babudar, pled guilty in federal court to charges related to a string of robberies, his lawyer made an appeal to the emotions of Chiefs fans everywhere.

Standing outside the courthouse, lawyer Matthew Merryman spent a little over a minute touting ChiefsAholic’s virtues.

You have to see it for yourself.

“From the beginning of this case, folks, the government has been blitzing and Xaviar’s pocket was collapsing,” Merryman said. “But today Xaviar stepped into the pressure. He took responsibility for his actions. He stood up in court, humble and repentant and admitted what he had done.”

In short, that meant pleading guilty to some serious crimes.

ChiefsAholic pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering and one count of transporting stolen property across state lines. He also pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery. Babudar admitted he engaged in nine bank and credit union robberies (or attempted robberies) in 2022, followed by two bank robberies committed while he was a fugitive from justice.

He laundered the bulk of the stolen money on casinos and online gambling.

Babudar faces up to 50 years in federal prison without parole. He owes at least $532,675 in restitution to the victim financial institutions. Babudar must also forfeit to the government an autographed painting of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The FBI has recovered the painting.

Still, Merryman went on about ChiefsAholic’s current outlook.

“Now, if I know anything about Xaviar and if the Chiefs Kingdom knows anything about ChiefsAholic, we know that he doesn’t give up,” Merryman said. “We know that if he stumbled and he fell, he didn’t let his knee touch the ground. And that’s because he’s capable of doing a great thing and he knows that there’s still hope. We still have a lot of work to do on this case, but Xaviar wants everyone to know that he loves the Chiefs Kingdom, he loves Kansas City and he hopes that you’ll rally to his support. Thank you, and God bless.”

On3’s Nick Geddes also contributed to this report.