Trevor Milton, an important Republican donor who was convicted in 2022 by a federal jury of cheating investors in the electric truck maker Nikola, received a grace from President Trump, the White House said on Friday.
Mr. Milton, founder of Nikola and former Chief Executive, was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $ 1 million after a jury in New York had convicted him for one census of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. He was free on bail while he appealed against the conviction.
In addition to saving Mr. Milton Tijd in prison, it means that he will not be obliged to comply with a judicial order to compensate shareholders in Nikola, who lost tens of millions of dollars after the share price of Nikola has collapsed. He is still confronted with a Class-Action right case filed by shareholders.
Mr Milton was accused of pumping the value of Nikola shares by making extravagant claims about the company, including that it had working prototypes of emissions-free long-distance cars, had billions of dollars in binding orders and produced cheap hydrogen fuel. Those statements were incorrect, public prosecutors argued during the trial.
Mr. Milton maintained that he did nothing wrong and led his lawyers that he was just excess about the prospects of his company.
Nikola operated under new management after Mr Milton resigned in 2020 after a report from the Investment Fund Hindenburg research that accused him of doing numerous false claims. Mr. Milton was accused of producing a video in which a truck was shown a hill, creating the impression that the company had developed a working prototype.
The company was never able to build and sell enough trucks to become profitable and presented bankruptcy protection in February. Nikola said in the court records that it is planning to sell much or all his assets.
When asked why he published the pardon, Mr. Trump said on Friday that Mr Milton was “strongly recommended” by many people and suggested that his persecution had been politics.
“They say the thing he did wrong, he was one of the first people who supported a Lord called Donald Trump for a president,” said Mr. Trump in the Oval Office. “He supported Trump. He liked Trump.”
“I had these fantastic recommendations about him from people you know very well, all the top people,” said Mr. Trump. “They thought it was a terrible thing.”
Since 2016, Mr Milton has contributed $ 2.85 million to a long list of conservative chosen officials, political action committees and Republican Committees of the State, according to Federal Campaign Data.
This includes at least $ 930,000 donated to the Trump campaign or political action committees that have supported Mr Trump's candidacy and $ 285,000 to the Republican National Committee, according to the data.
Mr. Milton also contributed $ 750,000 to the Maha Alliance, a political action committee that supporters of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Try to convince Mr. Trump after Mr. Kennedy had left the presidential race. Mr. Milton contributed directly to Mr. Kennedy's campaign in September, after he was suspended, according to the records.
Mr. Kennedy was later appointed secretary of the Ministry of Health and Human Services, who did not immediately respond to a request for comments on Friday.
Brad Bondi, a member of Mr. Milton's defense team during the trial, is the brother of attorney General Pam Bondi. Mr. Bondi and the Ministry of Justice did not respond to requests for comments.
The office of the American lawyers for the southern district of New York, which dealt with the case against Mr. Milton, refused to comment.
Mr. Milton celebrated the pardon in a video he filmed while driving a car and posted on X. “I am free. The prosecutors can no longer hurt me,” he said.
Tyler pager And Matthew Goldstein contributed reporting.
