Trevor Milton, the former CEO of Nikola was just sentenced to four years in a federal prison for fraud. The judgment includes a $1M dollar fine, restitution, and additional probation time. For now, though, Milton remains free on bail as he appeals the conviction.
Milton was the man at the head of Nikola in 2018 when it admittedly faked a video of its prototype electric semi truck driving down a road. That instance along with many other statements made by Milton led many to believe that the company was closer to full-scale production than it actually was. Back in October of 2022, a jury found him guilty of securities fraud and wire fraud.
Today, a judge sentenced Mr. Milton to four years in federal prison along with a $1,000,000 fine, a yet-to-be-determined amount of restitution, and three years of supervised release after he has served the initial sentence. That’s actually quite a bit less of a penalty than prosecutors initially asked for. They wanted Milton to serve 11 years and pay a $5,000,000 fine. On the other hand, Milton’s council asked for probation only.
Read: GM Once Viewed Tesla As A ‘Bunch of Engineers Playing With Laptop Batteries’ Says Nikola CEO
Since Milton left Nikola, the company has managed to launch a hydrogen-electric semi-truck but that step forward has been beset by numerous issues. In the first quarter of 2023, it posted a $169 million dollar loss. In May it received a de-listing notice from the NASDAQ for trading at under a dollar for an extended time. In June it cut 270 jobs and then had a fire on its grounds that destroyed four trucks.
By September, its latest CEO, Steve Girsky, was drawing a comparison between the company and Tesla, who, at one time, was underestimated. We said it then and we’ll reiterate it now, if Nikola can manage to be half as impactful in the automotive industry as Tesla, it’ll likely be viewed as a resounding success.
Of course, at this point, all it might be remembered for is a CEO who led investors and interested parties on a ride that ended with some burned-up trucks and little more.
