Kansas City Chiefs Superfan Sentenced to 17 1/2 Years in Prison

A sold-out crowd will pack Arrowhead Stadium for Thursday night's NFL season opener between the Baltimore Ravens and Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

One Chiefs diehard who won't be in attendance is Xaviar Babudar.

Babudar, a Kansas City superfan also known as "ChiefsAholic," was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in federal prison without parole on Thursday for committing a string of armed bank robberies committed across the United States.

In February, Babudar pled guilty to charges related to 11 bank robberies in seven states, admitting to stealing more than $800,000. The 29-year-old faced a maximum sentence of 50 years, and while his attorneys sought a lighter sentence of 10 years, they were still able to reduce it significantly.

Babudar will serve two sentences concurrently — 210 months for two charges and 87 months for one charge. He faces three years of supervised release, and he will have to pay $532,675 in restitution.

"While parading as a social media celebrity, Babudar secretly engaged in a violent crime spree," U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore said in a video statement. "Babudar's robbery spree bankrolled the expensive tickets and his travel across the country to attend Kansas City Chiefs games while he cultivated a large fan base online.

"However, the bank and credit union employees whom he terrorized at gunpoint suffered the brunt of his true nature. Babudar tried to flee from justice, but law enforcement caught up with him and now he will spend a significant portion of his life in prison."

According to Babudar's attorney, Matthew Merryman, a plea deal reduced the charges from 20 to three.

"Today was a big day for Xaviar Babudar," Merryman told reporters after the sentencing. "He took responsibility for his actions. He stood up in court, humble and repentant, and admitted what he had done."