Former flooring buyer for Home Depot sentenced for fraud

Atlanta A second key player in a vendor-kickback scheme at The Home Depot was sentenced to just under four years in prison on Thursday.

Prosecutors say 37-year-old Ronald K. Johnston, a former flooring purchaser for the chain, also was ordered Thursday to pay $1.7 million in restitution.

Johnston, who pleaded guilty in January, is the second former Home Depot employee sentenced in two days. James P. Robinson of Atlanta was sentenced Wednesday to more than five years. Another who pleaded guilty in the scheme, Anthony Tesvich, faces sentencing June 11.

Prosecutors say Johnston took payments from foreign suppliers, and in exchange arranged for Atlanta-based Home Depot to purchase merchandise from them at less than the most advantageous terms for his company.