Court upholds a conviction for beer taken at Toby Keith's farm

The Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of Anthony Borges, a Choctaw Nation citizen found guilty of second-degree burglary after prosecutors said he stole four beers from a mini-fridge at Toby Keith's horse breeding and racing facility, Dream Walkin' Farms, Taste of Country reported on August 11. Borges had appealed, arguing prosecutors failed to prove he entered the property intending to steal, according to Oklahoma outlet Non Doc.

Prosecutors said Borges went to the property's cabana door but was turned away by Keith's daughter, then entered through an unlocked sliding glass door, rummaging through drawers and memorabilia before finding a mini-fridge stocked with Bud Light. According to a brief from Attorney General Gentner Drummond's office, he grabbed three cans, appeared to be leaving, then turned around for a fourth before walking to the garage, where he drank one beer while looking through parked family vehicles.

Borges was convicted in 2025 with a recommended two-year sentence. He was discharged from custody on June 1, Non Doc reported, but was then picked up by Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police on an unrelated 2022 warrant; he later bonded out, failed to appear for a court date and has not been located since. He told deputies at the scene that "the Lord had told him to come work for Toby Keith," and his legal team argued in court that he had gone to the property looking for a job.

The cabana sits in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, about 45 minutes from Keith's home in Norman, and the property remains active: in April 2025, one of Keith's horses, Render Judgment, ran in the Kentucky Derby, fulfilling a lifelong dream of the singer's before his 2024 death. The horse is stabled, trains and races out of Dream Walkin' Farms under trainer Kenny McPeek, according to Tulsa station KOTV.

Toby Keith died of stomach cancer on February 5, 2024, at age 62. He had revealed his diagnosis in 2022 and stepped away from the spotlight to fight the disease, returning to accept the Icon Award at the inaugural People's Choice Awards in September 2023 and completing a string of Las Vegas shows by the end of that year. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame just over a month after his death, part of a steady run of country legal news this year.