Former Uber Exec Anthony Levandowski Sentenced to 18 Months for Stealing Google’s Self-Driving Car Secrets
DO NOT PASS GO
Anthony Levandowski, a former executive and engineer in the autonomous vehicles industry, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing trade secrets from Google and handing them over to Uber after the latter acquired his company. As a part of the sentence, he’s obligated to pay $757 million in restitution to Google as well as a $95,000 fine. He previously declared bankruptcy as a result of a $179 million fine. Levandowski said in a statement to The Verge, “The last three and a half years have forced me to come to terms with what I did. I want to take this time to apologize to my colleagues at Google for betraying their trust, and to my entire family for the price they have paid and will continue to pay for my actions.” His sentence has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the meantime, he has filed suit against Uber for allegedly failing to pay out for the acquisition of his company, seeking $4.1 billion in damages.