Former Home Depot buyer sentenced to federal prison

Once he is released from prison, Matheny will have another three years on supervised release. Story ordered him to pay restitution totaling $502,000, a $7,500 fine and to perform 200 hours of community service.

“This defendant abused the trust and authority given to him by his employer and lined his own pockets at the company's expense,” said Sally Quillian Yates, the U.S. attorney for Georgia’s northern district.

Matheny worked for Home Depot 20 years. In his last four years working for the company, Matheny was a “product merchant” responsible for overseeing the location and displays of flooring products.

According to information presented in court, Matheny and others worked deals that were not the best he could otherwise negotiate on behalf of Home Depot. In exchange, Matheny was paid almost $1.5 million.

Matheny's attorney, Howard Jarrett Weintraub, said prosecutors did not prove Home Depot suffered economic harm and will appeal the court's decision to award $502,000 in restitution.

The Metheny case was part of a larger investigation into kickbacks at Home Depot.

In August, another former Home Depot employee was acquitted of having a role in the scheme. Ian Jay Evans, who started a logistics company that catered to Home Depot after leaving the home improvement company, admitted paying buyers  $1.4 million from 2002 to 2005. But Evans' attorney argued, and the jury apparently agreed, those payments were not a federal offense even if they violated the retailer's policy.

And in June 2009, Anthony Tesvich, a former flooring buyer, was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison and agreed to pay $8.2 million in restitution for masterminding the kickback scheme. His ex-wife, Melissa Deaton Tesvich, and other Home Depot employees also have been convicted.