E.V. Start-Up Founders Made Big Claims. One Was Just Sentenced to Prison.

The founder of the electric truck company Nikola was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday in a fraud case that highlights the financial carnage left behind by a crop of electric vehicle start-ups and their promoters.

A federal judge in Manhattan, Edgardo Ramos, sentenced Trevor Milton, Nikola’s founder and former chief executive, after a jury found him guilty last year of one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Mr. Milton was accused of pumping up the value of Nikola stock by making extravagant claims about the company.

Mr. Milton told investors that Nikola had working prototypes of emission-free long-haul trucks, had billions of dollars’ worth of binding orders and was producing low-cost hydrogen fuel. All those statements were false, said prosecutors, who had asked Judge Ramos to hand down an 11-year prison term and a $5 million fine. Lawyers for Mr. Milton, who denied the charges, had sought probation.

Judge Ramos also fined Mr. Milton $1 million and said he would be required to pay restitution, which will be determined later. Mr. Milton will remain free on bail while he pursues an appeal.

Choking back tears and quoting scripture during a lengthy plea for mercy, Mr. Milton told the judge that he felt “terrible for everyone involved.” But, he insisted, “I did not commit these crimes.”

Judge Ramos said Mr. Milton was not as bad as some people convicted of fraud whom he had sentenced, but told him that “there were still real people hurt by your actions.” He added, “The loss amount was immense.”