Although Uber denied that it ever used any
of Google’s trade secrets, it agreed to pay
Waymo $245 million last year to settle the
case in the midst of a trial that riveted Silicon
Valley. But long before the case settled, the
judge overseeing it saw enough evidence to
recommend the U.S. Attorney’s office in San
Francisco open a criminal investigation. After
two years of looking into the matter, the U.S.
Attorney charged Levandowski with 33 counts
of theft, which could lead to 10 years in prison
and more than $8 million in fines.
The criminal case is now in the process of being
transferred to U.S. District Judge William Alsup,
who oversaw the civil lawsuit and made the
criminal referral.
Levandowski has denied the charges against
him and has promised to show up for all
court dates, including his eventual trial. In
Wednesday’s hearing, Ramsey accused the
government of grandstanding in its attempt
to depict Levandowski as a flight risk and
suggested prosecutors were trying to make it
more difficult for him to hire more lawyers by
pushing for a $10 million bail, which would have
represented about 14% of his net worth.
Most of Levandowski’s money is locked up in
real estate investments that can’t be quickly or
easily sold, Ramsey told Cousins. He had put up
$300,000 in cash as part of the $2 million bail
posted last week, with his father and a friend
covering the rest with property they own.
Although Cousins said he doesn’t think it’s
likely Levandowski will flee while awaiting trial,
he amended the bail to include a $200,000
commitment from the engineer’s brother Max.
Cousins’ said he may reconsider the bail terms at
a hearing scheduled for Oct. 2.
c. jardin
(C. Jardin)
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