The man who broke into a rental SUV belonging to one of Beyoncé’s dancers and walked off with flash drives containing unreleased music has been sentenced to two years in prison, following a guilty plea entered in a Fulton County court in Atlanta on Tuesday, 12 May 20206, as reported by The Source.
Kelvin Evans, 40, pleaded guilty to entering an automobile with intent to commit theft and criminal trespass. The offences stem from a break-in in July 2025, two days before Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour was scheduled to perform in Atlanta.
Evans had initially maintained his innocence and rejected a plea deal in March. He was facing a potential six-year sentence before accepting the terms that brought his term down to two years.
What was taken from that car
The stolen items went well beyond music files. Evans made off with jump drives containing unreleased, watermarked Beyoncé music, footage plans for the Atlanta show, past and future set lists, two laptops, a pair of designer sunglasses and Apple AirPods Max headphones.
The watermarking embedded in the music files is a standard security measure used by major artists and their teams to trace any leaked material back to the specific version that was stolen or distributed.
The timing of the break-in, two days before a major tour stop in the city where the theft occurred, tells you something about how targeted the incident was. Whether Evans selected the vehicle at random or had specific knowledge of its contents has not been publicly established.
From not guilty to prison
Evans pleaded not guilty when the case first came before the courts and rejected an earlier settlement offer in March.
His decision to reverse course and accept the plea less than two months after that rejection suggests the evidence against him made conviction at trial a near-certainty.
What remains unresolved publicly is whether any of the stolen music was ever distributed. Beyoncé’s team has not confirmed whether the unreleased tracks were shared beyond the original theft, and no leaks have been publicly attributed to this specific case.
The set lists and show footage plans stolen alongside the music add another layer, given the security-sensitive nature of tour logistics at that scale.
What comes next for Evans
Evans will serve the two-year sentence following sentencing. The case is now closed at the criminal court level. Beyoncé’s legal team did not issue a public statement following the verdict.
The conviction draws a line under what has been a slow-moving case that attracted significant attention from fans tracking it since the theft was first reported last year.
At a moment when Beyoncé’s catalogue is under more commercial scrutiny than ever, the outcome signals clearly that her organisation pursues these matters through to their conclusion.
