Former Home Depot exec ordered to prison

Atlanta A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a former Home Depot executive to 63 months in prison for his role in a kickback scheme involving foreign vendors of flooring products.

James P. Robinson, the first of three defendants to be sentenced in the case for wire fraud and income tax evasion, also was ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution.

“I’m 100% wrong for what I did,” Robinson told U.S. District Judge Richard Story before the judge passed sentence. “I’ve got no one to blame but myself.”

Robinson, Anthony M. Tesvich and Ronald K. Johnston have pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks from vendors in exchange for ensuring that their products landed on Home Depot shelves nationwide.

Johnston will be sentenced on Thursday, while Tesvich, described by federal prosecutors as the scheme’s mastermind, faces sentencing in June.