Trevor Milton, the convicted founder of electric- and hydrogen-powered truck maker Nikola has been sentenced to four years in prison after a jury last year found him guilty of lying to investors about the company’s technology.
According to Reuters, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Milton misled investors by stating Nikola had built a pickup from the “ground up”, that it had developed its own batteries even though he knew it was buying them, and that it had early success creating a Nikola One semi-truck that he knew did not work.
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After announcing the sentence at a hearing in federal court in Manhattan, US district judge Edgar Ramos told Milton he was aware the statements he made about the company were false.
“As difficult as it may be for you or your family to hear, I believe the jury got it right,” Ramos said.
The judge allowed Milton to remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction, Reuters said.
The news agency said prosecutors last week had urged Ramos to sentence Milton, 41, to around 11 years in prison – in line with the sentence Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes received last year after being found guilty of defrauding investors in her blood testing startup.
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By GlobalDataMilton’s lawyers had said he should get probation, arguing that any misstatements resulted from his “deeply-held optimism” in his Phoenix-based company, and that Holmes’ case was different because her lies put people at medical risk, Reuters reported.
Reuters noted Milton was convicted in October 2022 on one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud, and acquitted on an additional securities fraud count.
Nikola in 2021 agreed to pay US$125m to settle civil charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the report added.
