The lawyers told a
“There is not a shred of evidence from trial or from Trevor’s personal life that he was ever motivated by spite, nastiness, ill will, or cruelty,” they wrote.
Milton, 41, was convicted last year of fraud for duping investors with exaggerated claims about his company’s production of zero-emission trucks.
Holmes, 39, is serving an 11-year sentence for defrauding investors in the blood-testing company
Milton is scheduled to be sentenced
“Unlike Holmes, Trevor never put
They said Holmes also duped her own board of directors in addition to lying to investors.
“In contrast, whatever Trevor may have done, he did it openly and with the full knowledge of Nikola’s executives and board of directors. There were no fake documents or financial shenanigans, and there were no threats to anyone to keep quiet,” the lawyers said.
In seeking leniency, Milton’s lawyers wrote that Milton has suffered enough after he was the subject of an episode of CNBC’s “American Greed” and after being the focus of podcast by The Wall Street Journal entitled “The Unraveling of Trevor Milton,” along with news reports, including by The Associated Press.
They said Milton had also been subjected to “shocking and unspeakable harassment online” and had lost some of his closest friends and colleagues, including those who helped him create
“Trevor has been ousted from the very community he created. His reputation is in tatters. The result has been depression and loss for Trevor,” they said.
They urged the sentencing judge to resist comparisons to the prosecution of Holmes, noting that
In 2020, Nikola’s stock price plunged and investors suffered heavy losses as reports questioned Milton’s claims that the company had already produced zero-emission 18-wheel trucks.
At trial, prosecutors said that
The company paid
Lawyers for Holmes did not immediately comment. Prosecutors were expected to submit sentencing arguments next week.
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