The founder of Nikola Corp., Trevor Milton, has been sentenced to four years behind bars after he was found guilty of his fraudulent actions. Milton lied to shareholders about the progress of the production of Nikola’s fully electric trucks. He received his sentence on Monday, December 18th in New York City. He was convicted in October 2022 after facing a two-month-long trial.
The trial saw over a dozen governmental witnesses who testified to the stories that were told of the progress of the truck compared to what stage the truck was actually at. Also featured in the trial was a clip that went viral of an advertisement meant to show the Nikola semi-trick prototype driving. The video hid the fact that the truck was merely rolling downhill, meaning the manufacturers did nothing but utilize gravity to show progress.
Milton heavily displayed his fraud online, which ultimately fed the trial against him.
The prosecution was actually pushing for a longer sentence for Milton. They hoped for something more along the lines of 11 years, which was the recommendation that came from probation officials. The belief was that Milton deserved an at least decade long sentence to punish him for his actions as well as to serve as an example, hopefully deterring other executives from acting similarly.
During the sentence meeting, Milton tearfully begged the judge for mercy, asking for only a probation sentence. He described himself as a “not very seasoned CEO,” explaining that he meant no harm with his actions. Milton further went on to say he had no intention of misleading investors in any of his advertisements and that his mistakes are due to his lack of experience as a company leader. This line of argument did not ultimately work in his favor.
Because of the heavy online documentation of the fraud, it was easy to see there was some knowledge and intention to mislead.
Milton utilized online platforms such as YouTube to display the progress of the Nikola truck and show the behind the scenes of the production. This was a bit unusual to see in the courtroom for a white-collar criminal trial, since most other people in Milton’s position had fraudulent financial and government documents.
Nikola grew incredibly fast with regard to its investors, at one point even surpassing the trading for Ford Motor Co. Milton had a net worth of $4 billion at this point, but eventually people caught on to the lies and fraud. Just as quickly as he rose, Milton fell. Milton stepped down from his position in September of 2020 and was charged in July of 2021.
