Former HD Floorcovering Buyer Gets Jail Term

Atlanta, GA, April 2, 2009--A former product buyer at Home Depot’s corporate headquarters in Atlanta was sentenced Wednesday to more than five years of prison for his role in a floorcovering vendor kickback scheme.

James Robinson avoided a trial by pleading guilty. He also met with federal agents for five hours on Dec. 21, 2007, to explain the scheme.

Robinson earned about $200,000 a year in his job buying flooring for the chain with nearly 2,000 stores, said John Fitzpatrick of the antitrust division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta.

“Home Depot relied on him,” Fitzpatrick said.

Robinson, 44, will have to pay nearly $1.2 million in restitution to Home Depot.

That is the amount prosecutors say he took in cash and gifts from flooring manufacturers to get their products on Home Depot shelves.

Robinson was one of several Home Depot employees involved in the scheme. Sentencing for Ronald K. Johnston will be Thursday. Anthony Tesvich, the alleged mastermind of the scheme, will be sentenced in June.