Trump's surprise pardon of Anthony Levandowski enables him to avoid serving an 18-month sentence in federal prison that U.S. District Judge William Alsup left no doubt last summer he believed was warranted. In a statement about Levandowski’s pardon, the Trump administration cited other comments that Alsup made about the engineers brilliant mind. A hearing on the timing of Levandowski's prison sentence had been scheduled for Feb. 9. Masters and Petersen didn’t immediate respond to a request for comment about their reasons for supporting Levandowski’s pardon. Ehrlich, Ramsey and Craig didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment about their support for a Levandowski pardon or the money owed by their client.