A Google engineer who stole 14,000 files of trade secrets on self-driving cars before going to work for Uber has been pardoned by President Trump.
Anthony Levandowski, 40, was sentenced to 18 months in prison last August for what a judge called the biggest trade secret crime I have ever seen , although he was not yet in custody.
He was one of 73 people pardoned by Trump on his final day in office, with the White House describing him as a brilliant engineer with talents needed by the country. Mr Levandowski has paid a significant price for his actions and plans to devote his talents to advance the public good, the White House said.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly used his clemency authority as a political tool rather than an act of mercy, issued a final wave of pardons and commutations during his final hours in office, delivering relief for a mix of beneficiaries that included former strategist Steve Bannon, Republican Party and Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, found guilty in 2013 of corruption charges.
He granted pardons to 73 people and commuted the sentences of 70, according to a news release from the White House on Wednesday, before he pardoned one more roughly an hour before Joe Biden was sworn in as the new president.