Trevor Milton, $$$pardoned felon$$$
A jury found him guilty. A judge sentenced him to four years in prison and ordered him to pay $690 million in restitution to the investors he defrauded. His company went bankrupt. His trucks barely worked.
Then Donald Trump called him personally on the phone — and made it all go away.
Trevor Milton is the founder of Nikola, an electric and hydrogen truck startup that promised to revolutionize American transportation. Federal prosecutors said he lied about nearly every aspect of the business — doctoring videos to hide the trucks' flaws, rebranding a General Motors vehicle as a Nikola prototype, and deceiving investors about the company's technology and financial progress.
A New York jury convicted him in October 2022 on one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. He was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay $690 million in restitution. The company later filed for bankruptcy. Fewer than 1,000 trucks were ever produced.
In October 2024 — while awaiting his appeal — Milton donated over $900,000 to a Political Action Committee supporting Trump's presidential campaign.
Five months later, Trump personally called Milton to tell him the pardon was signed.
"I am free," Milton said in a video posted immediately after. "The prosecutors can no longer hurt me. They can't destroy my family. They can't rip everything away from me."
Trump said Milton "did nothing wrong" and was "taken advantage of" by prosecutors who targeted him because of his political support. He alleged the case was moved from Utah to New York to ensure a guilty verdict.
There is one more detail worth noting. Milton's defense attorney throughout the trial was Brad Bondi — the brother of Pam Bondi, who is now the United States Attorney General.
The $690 million in court-ordered restitution to fraud victims? The pardon wipes that obligation out as well.
The investors who lost their money have no recourse.
dededos
blakekathryn
areudirty
janainaart
snowghoul
baratheonpilled
kaledo-art
vaporwave
