Nikola Corp NKLA founder Trevor Milton was convicted on allegations of fraud that he lied to his investors about the company’s technical achievements.

What happened: A federal jury sentenced Milton on one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. He now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Milton’s sentencing was set for January 27.

During the trial, the jury framed Milton as a “conman” who, beginning in November 2019, tried to mislead investors about the electric and hydrogen truck maker’s technology.

Milton was charged with fraud in July 2021 and resigned as CEO amid allegations.

According to court filings, Milton used social media and television interviews to make false and misleading claims about Nikola’s trucks and technology.

Milton gave false information Nikola built an electric and hydrogen-powered badger Picked up from scratch and developed batteries in-house that he knew were bought elsewhere, the report said.

He made these statements about Nikola as it joined the growing number of technology and electric vehicle companies going public through SPACs.

About Nikola and Trevor Milton: Milton founded Nikola in 2015. The company was listed on Nasdaq in 2020 by merging with a SPAC called VectoIQ Acquisition Corporation.

Milton owns a 10% stake in the company, more than 51 million shares of Nikola, while his spouse owns an additional 1.25 million shares.

Corresponding Benzinga’s Insider Trades PageMilton has sold large portions of its Nikola shares, including more than $16 million in August 2021, $11.7 million in November 2021 and $3.3 million in December 2021.

Nicola reported Second quarter financial results in August with revenue of $18.13 million, beating Street’s estimates.

The company completed the exchange offer for acquisition last week Romeo power‘s RMO common shares. Nikola intends to proceed with the acquisition of Romeo, which will see a newly formed subsidiary of Nikola merged into Romeo.

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