Federal agents conduct money laundering and immigration raid at northern AZ BBQ chain

The husband and wife owners of the popular Colt Grill BBQ and Spirits restaurants in northern Arizona are accused of hiring and harboring undocumented immigrants to work at their restaurants through an elaborate scheme, according to federal prosecutors.

Robert and Brenda Clouston, both 61, were arrested after federal agents raided the restaurants and several residences in Yavapai County, and a Colt Grill restaurant in Foley, Alabama on July 15, federal prosecutors said.

Two others, Luis Pedro Rogel-Jaimes, 33, and Iris Romero-Molina, 29, also were indicted, federal prosecutors said.

Roger-Jaimes and Romero-Molina are undocumented immigrants from Mexico, federal prosecutors said.

Under the scheme, the four people created a cleaning business, R&R AZ Cleaning, that was used to find undocumented immigrants to work at the restaurants, according to federal prosecutors.

The unauthorized workers were paid through the cleaning business with funds from the restaurants, federal prosecutors said.

The unauthorized workers were paid below minimum wage and were not compensated for overtime, federal prosecutors said.

The Cloustons, Roger-Jaimes and Romero-Molina benefited financially from the plan and did not pay proper employment taxes for the workers, federal prosecutors said.

The Cloustons, Roger-Jaimes and Romero-Molina were indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien to unlawfully enter the U.S., and a pattern and practice of knowingly employing unauthorized aliens, federal prosecutors said.

They face up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for each of the conspiracy charges. They also face up to six months in prison and a $3,000 fine for each unauthorized employee for the pattern and practice charge, federal prosecutors said.

All four appeared in federal court in Phoenix on July 16, court records show. An arraignment hearing is set for July 21, court records show.

Several workers were also arrested on immigration violations as part of the raid, federal prosecutors said.

The arrests culminated a three-year investigation by federal and local law enforcement agencies led by Homeland Security Investigations, a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Timothy Courchaine, the U.S. Attorney for the district of Arizona, said in a written statement.

The Cloustons operated four Colt Grill restaurants in Arizona, including Old Town Cottonwood, on Whiskey Row in downtown Prescott, in Prescott Valley and the village of Oak Creek in Sedona, according to the indictment.

The couple also operated a Colt Grill in Foley, AL.

Under federal law, employers are required to verify employees are authorized to legally work in the U.S. by completing I-9 forms, the indictment said.

In addition, under Arizona law, employers are required to use the federal government’s E-Verify electronic verification system to check the employment status of workers, the indictment said.

From at least Nov. 2021, Robert Clouston knew that Arizona state law required Colt Grill to pay time and a half for any work over 40 hours per week, the indictment said.

Clouston told a manager not to be concerned with receiving the required paperwork to properly calculate pay, taxes and workers’ compensation for some newly hired employees, stating those were “Pedro’s people,” the indictment said.

“Pedro” would bring workers up from Mexico and, on at least one occasion, was seen handing Rogel-Jaimes cash while allegedly discussing bringing more workers from Mexico, the indictment said.

In 2022, Robert Clouston instructed two managers at the Colt Grill restaurant in Sedona to fire U.S. citizen employees to create openings for undocumented workers from Mexico “for the purpose of having less expensive labor costs,” the indictment said.

Clouston leased several houses in Prescott, Prescott Valley and Cottonwood where undocumented workers who worked for his restaurants lived, the indictment said.

The case is part of the Trump administration’s Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative to “repel the invasion of illegal immigration,” eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations and “protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona statement said.

Several local police departments assisted with scene security and ensuring public safety while the warrants were executed, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said.

Photos posted on Facebook showed an armored vehicle and armed law enforcement personnel in military-style garb outside one of the Colt Grill locations.

A video posted on Instagram showed a woman who identified herself as Ximena crying outside the Colt Grill restaurant in Sedona, saying her father had just been arrested by ICE as part of the raid.

“My dad used to work here at Colt Grill. ICE just randomly came and they took him. He didn’t do anything. He didn’t have no criminal record. They just showed up and they want to take him to Phoenix,” she says. “He was the one who brought everything to the house. I don’t know what I am going to do without him.”

Colt Grill is a small group of BBQ restaurants with locations in Old Town Cottonwood, Prescott Valley, downtown Prescott, the village of Oak Creek, Sedona and downtown Foley, Alabama, according to the Colt Grill website.

“We are female-owned, family-run, and believe in the value of hard work, personal responsibility, and perseverance,” the website says.

No one answered the phone at any of the Colt Grill locations. A voice recording said the system had reached capacity and directed callers to the Colt Grill website.

Republic reporter Richard Ruelas contributed to this article.