Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Sentenced to 4 Years for Fraud Conviction

NEW YORK—Trevor Milton, the convicted founder of electric- and hydrogen-powered truck maker Nikola, was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday after a jury last year found him guilty of lying to investors about the company’s technology. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Milton misled investors by stating that Nikola had built a pickup from the “ground up,” that it had developed its own batteries even though he knew it was buying them, and that it had early success creating a “Nikola One” semi-truck that he knew did not work. After announcing the sentence at a hearing in federal court in Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Edgar Ramos told Milton he was aware the statements he made about the company were false....