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(CN) — Trevor Milton, who was convicted in 2022 on fraud charges for defrauding investors in his electric vehicle start-up Nikola, received a pardon Friday from President Donald Trump.
A federal judge had sentenced Milton to four years in prison in December 2023 following his conviction on one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. In addition to evading prison time Milton also will likely not have to pay millions of dollars in restitution initially intended to pay back defrauded stakeholders thanks to the pardon.
At the monthlong trial, jurors found that Milton duped individual investors by repeatedly lying about his hydrogen-powered truck company. Prosecutors said Milton targeted everyday retail investors in his online campaigns and media appearances.
In one instance, Milton released a promotional video of one of his trucks appearing to be fully operational as it moved up and down a hill. But prosecutors said the truck was actually towed to the top of the hill and rolled down.
Milton resigned from Nikola in 2020 after the company’s stock price took a dive amid reports questioning Milton’s claims the company had already produced zero-emission 18-wheel trucks.
Federal prosecutors indicted him in 2021 following a report released by Hindenburg Research that called Nikola’s success “an intricate fraud.” The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February.
Nikola paid $125 million to settle a civil case with the Securities and Exchange Commission for related fraud in 2021.
In a statement, Milton praised Trump’s pardon, and said he believes it’s a step toward forwarding Trump’s promise to end the “political weaponization” of the Justice Department.
“This pardon is not just about me — it’s about every American who has been railroaded by the government, and unfortunately, that’s a lot of people,” Milton said.
Milton and his wife also donated $1.8 million to Trump last October, according to the Federal Election Commission.
The Nikola founder becomes another of many people Trump has pardoned in the two months he’s been in office. Trump also pardoned roughly 1,500 people who participated in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which prosecuted the case, did not respond to a request for comment.
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