Trevor Milton, the disgraced founding father of Nikola, was simply sentenced to 4 years in jail on three counts of fraud.
In October 2022, a jury found Milton guilty of 1 rely of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Milton confronted as much as 60 years in jail. Prosecutors requested the decide for an 11-year jail sentence and a $5 million effective, in accordance with The New York Times, whereas the protection argued for probation.
After saying the sentence at a federal courtroom listening to in New York Metropolis, U.S. District Choose Edgar Ramos spoke on to Milton. “As tough as it could be for you or your loved ones to listen to, I imagine the jury obtained it proper,” Ramos mentioned, as transcribed Reuters.
Milton addressed the courtroom earlier than sentencing was handed down, saying “I didn’t intend to hurt anybody and I didn’t commit these crimes levied towards me.” He additionally spoke at size about his rural upbringing and recited biblical verse.
Prosecutors claimed that Milton pumped up the worth of the corporate’s inventory by mendacity to traders about “almost all features” of Nikola’s enterprise. Amongst different issues, Milton claimed his firm had a totally practical electrical truck. The corporate launched a video that made it seem as if a Nikola One prototype was capable of transfer by itself. Nonetheless, an indictment alleged that the truck was really rolling down a hill and that Milton was concerned within the video’s creation.
As well as, Milton was accused of mendacity about Nikola having billions of {dollars} price of pre-order reservations and that it was producing hydrogen gas at 4 instances lower than market charges. Prosecutors additionally mentioned Milton falsely claimed Nikola had developed “game-changing” battery tech.
Nikola continues to be in enterprise and it plans to resume deliveries of its battery electrical truck in early 2024 following a recall over battery points that price round $61.8 million to resolve. Within the 9 months to September 30, Nikola produced 96 vehicles and shipped 79.
The corporate’s inventory worth has dropped by 99 % since 2020 and traders are mentioned to have misplaced greater than $660 million. Milton offered round $100 million of his Nikola inventory in 2020 and spent most of that on luxurious items similar to a airplane and actual property, in accordance with the Occasions. It is possible that Milton will enchantment this conviction, as he is already requested Ramos for a brand new trial following the jury’s responsible verdict.
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