Nikola founder and former CEO Trevor Milton says he has been pardoned by President Donald Trump, escaping a four-year federal prison sentence and $1 million fine. Milton made the announcement in an Instagram video.

“I just got a call from the president of the United States on my phone that he signed a full and unconditional pardon of innocence,” Milton says. “I am free.”

Milton was convicted of securities fraud in the Southern District of New York. The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office accused him of misleading investors by making false claims about the production of Nikola’s zero-emission 18-wheel trucks.

Milton was sentenced in December 2023 and was in the midst of an appeal when the pardon was granted.