BATON ROUGE - A federal prosecutor says a former executive of a shuttered Gonzales-based chain of Popeyes chicken restaurants will spend nearly four years in prison for embezzling funds from the business.

U.S. Attorney Walt Green said in a news release Tuesday Judge John deGravelles ordered 46-year-old William Ros to pay $966,000 in restitution and forfeit the same amount in illegal proceeds.

Green says Ros bought a pricey race car and renovating his Florida home with money.

Ros pleaded guilty in February to wire fraud and embezzlement of a bankruptcy estate.

Green said Ros' illegal scheme began shortly before Fundamental Provisions LLC was initially granted bankruptcy protection in 2009. Ros was chief financial officer of the Gonzales-based firm that once operated 30 Popeyes locations in Louisiana and two other states.