Trevor Milton, who was convicted by a federal jury in 2022 of defrauding investors in the electric truck maker Nikola, has received a pardon from President Trump, the White House confirmed.
Mr. Milton, who founded and is the former chief executive of Nikola, was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $1 million after being convicted by a New York jury of one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. He has been free on bail while he appealed the conviction.
In addition to sparing Mr. Milton time in prison, the pardon means that he will not be required to comply with a court order to compensate shareholders in Nikola, who lost tens of millions of dollars after Nikola’s share price collapsed. He could still face civil lawsuits.
Mr. Milton was accused of pumping up the value of Nikola stock by making extravagant claims about the company, including that it had working prototypes of emission-free long-haul trucks, had billions of dollars’ worth of binding orders and was producing low-cost hydrogen fuel. Those statements were false, prosecutors argued during the trial.
Mr. Milton has maintained that he did nothing wrong and his lawyers argued that he was just overenthusiastic about the prospects of his company.
Nikola filed for bankruptcy protection in February and has said in court filings that it intends to sell many or all its assets.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
