Trevor Milton at Nikola World in 2019
Screen capture from live-streamed event
Nikola founder Trevor Milton, who was convicted of fraud for lying in an effort to pump up the value of the zero-emission truck company, said in a news release that he has been pardoned by President Donald Trump — but as of the morning of March 28, we’ve been unable to find any independent confirmation.
As we reported in 2022, prosecutors called Milton “a con man,” who “lied to investors to get their money, but Milton’s defense lawyer compared him to an overenthusiastic parent who brags about his child.
Last December, Milton was sentenced to four years in prison.
According to MarketWatch, Matthew Podolsky, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, submitted a filing earlier this month asking the court to order Milton to pay $661 million in restitution to retail investors.
“As part of the Court’s sentence, it imposed an order of restitution, but deferred determining an amount until after receiving additional information from the parties. The parties attempted to negotiate a resolution of the restitution issue, but were unable to reach an agreement,” said Podolsky.
If Trump pardoned Milton, the judge could not order restitution.
Milton attracted big industry names to Nikola One, including U.S. Xpress.
Photo: Nikola (from HDT files)
Nikola filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. Some observers believe the company will be resurrected in some form or another.
According to Milton’s announcement, the pardon is part of the president’s pledge to end what he alleges is the “political weaponization of the Justice Department.”
Milton was prosecuted by the Southern District of New York, which Trump also tangled with.
The pardon does not yet appear on the Justice Department’s pardons website, but the search function is only current through March 3.
The news release also says that Milton is set to launch a documentary available for preview at www.trevormilton.com.
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