Founder Trump Pardons Nicola Turbo Milton

President Donald Trump pardon Nikola corp. founder Millton’s crave For his conviction in October 2022 in federal crimes related to deception investors with false claims about the success of electric and hydrogen Manufacturer of trucks.

42 -year -old Milton was sentenced in December 2023 to four years in jailBut he has been free since then before the expectation of the criminal conviction of the former CEO securities and wire fraud fees in US District Court in Manhattan.

The pardon occurred two weeks after restitution Of the 680 million dollars, Nikola shareholders and another $ 15.2 million Peter Hicks, a victim of his fraud.

From the pardon Ramos could not order restitution of any kind.

“Oh, Oh, Oh, you won’t believe what just happened,” Milton said Instagram The video is posted on his personal account on Thursday. “Probably the best day I had in five years.”

“I just called the US president, on his phone, and he signed my complete and unconditional pardon of innocence,” said Milton, who seemed to drive the vehicle on the video.

“I am free. The prosecutor’s office can no longer hurt me,” he said. “They can’t destroy my family, they can’t break everything from me, they can’t ruin my life.”

The White House confirmed the pardon.

Miltan defenders did not immediately respond to comment requests.

A press secretary of the prosecutor’s office of Manhattan, who was prosecuted by Milton, refused to comment on the pardon.

The American Prosecutor’s Office of Manhattan, when in 2021 received an accusation against Milton, said that some investors who cheated on his scheme “suffered tens and even hundreds of thousands of losses, including in some cases, the loss of their visit or the funds they borrowed.”

Milton also made significant political donations to Republicans at the end of 2024, including 920 000 dollars Trump Committee 47, which was first reported by the New York Times reporter Ken Beanger.

Milton, who “had never made political donations before, donated $ 2 million to Republicans between September to December.”

In A press -release On Thursday, Milton said, “This is a pardon not only for me – it is about every American who was a railway government, and, unfortunately, it’s a lot of people.”

Milton also claimed that there was a “strange similarity” between his case and those who opposed President Trump. “

The president was charged with four criminal cases between his first and second term in the White House.

After Trump was elected in November, the US Department of Justice appealed to the dismissal of two federal affairs, citing a policy of the department that prohibits federal persecution of the presidents.

In the Federal Court, Manhattan did not apply or in the US Appeal Court 2, indicating that the criminal case against Milton was stopped from the pardon.

However, this is not uncommon if the presidential messages are submitted to court a few days after the Pardonov was issued.

“No wonder why the confidence and confidence in the Ministry of Justice did not blur,” Milton said in a press release.

“I want the judges to stop believing that the prosecutor’s office fed them so that the Americans can trust the justice system again,” he said. “Until this happens, our justice system will continue to blur until nothing is left.”

Milton’s pardon, if confirmed, would have removed his criminal conviction and sentence, which included a fine of $ 1 million.

Earlier this week, Trump signed a complete and unconditional pardon of Devon Archer, a one -time business partner Baden Hunterformer president Joe BidenSon.

Like Milton, Archer was also convicted in the fraud case.

Immediately after the inauguration, on January 20, Trump was markedly pardoned by about 1,500 people who were either accused or convicted of crimes related to January 6, 2021, striking the US Capitol on the Mafia President.

The next day in the post of Trump pardoned Ross ulbrichtwho was serving a life imprisonment for crimes related to his dark silk road.

In February, the former Illinois government. Rod Blagoevich received a pardon of the president. Blagoevich served eight years of imprisonment after he was convicted of trying to sell a place in the Senate, released by Barack Obama after the first term was elected president in 2008.

In February, Nicolas fell for Section 11 Bankruptcy Defense In the US bankruptcy court in Delaware.

The company said it stated that it had $ 1 billion to $ 10 billion and assets of $ 500 to $ 1 billion. He also addressed the court to sell business, saying he had about $ 47 million in cash.

Nicolas, which mainly makes electrical and electrical semi -finished products with fuel elements, has been fighting in recent years. The company sold only 600 vehicles since 2022, according to the results of the last third quarter.

As the company’s capital declined, many of its trucks were recalled as a result of defects. In its third quarter conference phone, the company warned investors that it had enough money to finance transactions in the first quarter of 2025, but not for that.

Nicolas’s collapse only comes five years after it reached the market cap of $ 30 billion in 2020, exceeding this Freod At the time.

The assessment was fueled by Milton’s statement, which was charged in July 2021.

According to prosecutors, from November 2019 to September 2020, Milton forced non -professional investors to invest in Nicolas “through false statements and put into deceptive statements about the development of Nikola products … Through interviews of social media and television, press and podcast.”

“Milton made false claims about almost all aspects of Nicola’s business,” the Manhattan prosecutor’s office said at the time of the prosecution.

This included false claims, “the company had an early success in creating a” fully functional “semi -coral prototype, known as” Nikola One “when Milton knew that the prototype did not work.”

The office also said that Milton made “fake and deceptive statements that Nikola developed and built an electric and hydrogen pickup, known as” Badgers “from” radiance up “using parts and technology Nicholas when Milton knew it wasn’t.”

Last fall, the judge confirmed the arbitration of almost $ 168 million against Milton for his deceptive statements about Nicolas.

– CNBC Eiman Javes They contributed to this story.