A former car dealership manager is to spend a year in prison for his role in a money laundering scheme.

Kurt Bates, 45, of Nampa, knew two employees of West Coast Car Company in Boise were conspiring to sell two cars to two drug dealers in exchange for cash from drug proceeds, but he lied to law enforcement when they inquired about the case in January 2009.

Bates pleaded guilty in June to misprision of a felony. He'll be on probation for three years after he leaves prison and is to pay a $1,000 fine under a sentence imposed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boise.

Co-defendant Joseph Monte Johnson, 47, the former finance manager for the West Coast Car Company, pleaded guilty in August 2011 to conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and is serving 40 months in prison.

Johnson had agreed to sell two automobiles for $55,000 and keep the buyers' real names off of car sales forms.

A third suspect, Michael J. McCormick, avoided prison but is on probation for three years. Bates was the dealership's general manger.

West Coast had two locations in Boise.