Want to get out of paying hundreds of millions to bilked investors? Just buy a pardon from Cheeto.

Normally, I don't use this blog/outlet to write about the misdeeds of Cheeto, et. al. (that's what I use the social media app Bluesky for), but this one has Arizona ties.

From The Copper Courier -

Convicted of bilking investors, founder of Phoenix-based Nikola gets a presidential pardon

Nikola, which was a hot start-up and rising star on Wall Street before becoming enmeshed in scandal, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February.

Trevor Milton, the founder of electric vehicle start-up Nikola who was sentenced to prison last year for fraud, was pardoned by President Donald Trump, the White House confirmed Friday.

The pardon of Milton, who was sentenced to four years in prison for exaggerating the potential of his technology, could wipe out hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution that prosecutors were seeking for defrauded investors.

Milton, 42, and his wife donated more than $1.8 million to a Trump re-election campaign fund less than a month before the November election, according to the Federal Election Commission.

There are other links to Cheeto.

From later in the same story -

During his securities fraud case, Milton was defended by two lawyers with connections to Trump: Marc Mukasey, who has represented the Trump Organization; and Brad Bondi, the brother of Pam Bondi, who Trump appointed as U.S. Attorney General.

According to FEC records, Milton gave millions to Cheeto, RFK Jr., state and national Republican parties, state and national Libertarian parties, and Republican candidate all over the country.

Based on the pardon, it seems to have been money well spent.

I know who Cheeto will pardon first

Rape? Florida? 

Definitely in Cheeto's wheelhouse.

If it even gets that far - Pam Bondi, Cheeto's pet AG nominee may simply tank the case before it ever gets to that.

From AP -

NY federal judge denies bail for two real estate brokers and their brother in sex trafficking case

Two luxury real estate brokers and their brother accused of raping dozens of women over two decades will remain in jail to await their trial on sex trafficking charges, a federal judge in New York City ruled Wednesday.

Judge Valerie E. Caproni heard bail arguments before agreeing with two federal magistrate judges in Florida who previously ruled that the three brothers should remain locked up as a danger to the community.

The men, who all reside in Miami, were not in Manhattan federal court because they remain jailed in Florida. They have pleaded not guilty. Caproni also found that they were a risk to flee.

[snip]

In an indictment unsealed last month and a detention letter, New York prosecutors alleged that Oren Alexander, 37, and Tal Alexander, 38, using their wealth and influence they gained by brokering deals on high-end properties in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles, teamed up with sibling Alon Alexander, 37, to rape and sexually abuse women from at least 2002 to 2021. Several of the victims, a prosecutor said Wednesday, were minors.