Trump’s pardon blitz keeps ex-Google exec out of prison

Levandowski (right) in front of his attorney, Miles Ehrlich, outside of a federal courthouse in San Francisco. Trump has pardoned Levandowski, who pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets before joining Uber’s effort to build robotic vehicles for its ride-hailing service. — AP

SAN RAMON, California: A long-running Silicon Valley soap opera took an unexpected twist on Jan 20 after outgoing President Donald Trump pardoned a former Google engineer for stealing self-driving car secrets shortly before joining Uber.

Trump’s surprise pardon of Anthony Levandowski enables him to avoid serving an 18-month sentence in federal prison that US District Judge William Alsup left no doubt last summer he believed was warranted.