Nikola founder sentenced to 4 years for false electric truck claims.

Nikola Founder Trevor Milton has been sentenced to four years in prison for exaggerating claims about the company’s production of zero-emission 18-wheel trucks. The judge also ordered Milton to pay a $1 million fine. Milton was convicted of fraud charges after prosecutors portrayed him as a con man who falsely claimed to have built revolutionary trucks that were actually General Motors products with Nikola’s logo stamped onto them. The company paid $125 million in 2021 to settle a civil case against it by the SEC. Milton fought through tears during his trial, portraying some of his actions as heroic and claiming that big companies in the industry have followed his lead to create cleaner vehicles. However, the judge stated that Milton’s claims were “materially false” and caused investors heavy losses. Despite asking the judge to spare him from prison, Milton did not apologize directly to investors or anyone else.