Trevor Milton, the founder of the now-bankrupt hydrogen trucking company Nikola, who was found guilty of fraud, has received a pardon from President Trump, as confirmed by the White House to TechCrunch.

In October 2022, Milton was convicted of one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud, related to the misleading claims he made to investors about Nikola’s progress. He was subsequently sentenced to four years in prison in December 2023. However, he has been out on bail, with a $100 million bond, while appealing the sentence.

The pardon comes at a time when Nikola has recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, just a few weeks ago. The company is currently working with the bankruptcy court in Delaware to sell its business and had hoped to close the deal by mid-April.

Milton released a statement saying, “It is no wonder why trust and confidence in the Justice Department has eroded to nothing. I wish judges would stop believing whatever the prosecutors feed them so Americans could trust the justice system again.”

Milton’s conviction was the result of a jury trial, where he was represented by Brad Bondi, a partner at the law firm Paul Hastings, who is also the brother of current U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Now that Milton is a free man, he has announced plans to release a documentary that he claims will tell his side of the story regarding the events that transpired at Nikola.

Milton founded Nikola in 2014, but the company gained significant attention in 2020 when it went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The company’s stock became highly traded, particularly after General Motors announced a $2 billion stake in September of that year.

However, the company’s fortunes quickly changed. Shortly after GM’s announcement, the short-selling research firm Hindenburg Research published a report alleging fraud by Milton, leading to an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. GM eventually walked away from the deal, and Milton resigned, although he claimed during his sentencing hearing in 2023 that he stepped down to care for his ailing wife.

In July 2021, prosecutors from the Southern District of New York charged Milton with making “false and misleading statements regarding Nikola’s product and technology development” on social media and in various interviews, with the intention of inducing retail investors to purchase Nikola stock.

Following his conviction, a judge ordered Milton to pay his former company nearly $168 million, as a result of an arbitration case between the two parties. This payment was expected to be a factor in Nikola’s bankruptcy case, with the company planning to use the proceeds to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by shareholders.