Man Pleads Guilty in Beyoncé Unreleased Music Theft Case, Receives 2-Year Prison Sentence

An Atlanta man accused of stealing unreleased Beyoncé music has pleaded guilty just before trial, closing out a case that centered on hard drives taken from a rental car tied to the singer’s camp.

Kelvin Evans, 40, entered the plea on Tuesday, May 12, in Fulton County Superior Court. He admitted to entering an automobile and criminal trespass, and under the deal he was sentenced to two years in prison. That is well below the six-year term he could have faced if convicted at trial. He will also serve three years on probation after his prison sentence.

His lawyer, speaking at the live-streamed hearing, said Evans was ready to move on from what he called a “relatively large part” of his life and hoped to “make money legitimately” and “be part of society like the rest of us.”

Prosecutors said Evans was arrested last summer after allegedly breaking into the rental car of Beyoncé’s choreographer, Christopher Grant, while Grant was in Atlanta ahead of a stop on the Cowboy Carter tour. According to Grant, the luggage inside the car included laptops, luxury clothing, and, crucially, hard drives containing unreleased Beyoncé material.

At Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors also played surveillance footage they said showed the break-in. They told the court that the same video would have been used if the case had gone to a jury trial set to begin this week. Even so, they agreed to the plea deal in order to avoid any “uncertainty” around a possible verdict.

“While we believe the state had a very strong case, there are some parts that are circumstantial in this particular case that a reasonable jury may have found a defendant not guilty,” the prosecutor said.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 02: Beyoncé accepts the Best Country Album award for