Brenda and Robert “Bob” Kenneth Clouston, the owners of the now shuttered Colt Grill BBQ & Spirits restaurants that included locations in Arizona and Alabama, have pleaded guilty to federal charges of knowingly hiring unauthorized immigrants to work in their business and are scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, Jan. 6, The Arizona Republic reports.
After a three-year labor exploitation investigation Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement simultaneously raided the Colt Grill locations in the Village of Oak Creek, Cottonwood, Prescott, Prescott Valley and Foley, Ala on Tuesday, July 15, 2025 that led to 30 undocumented workers slated for deportation.
Robert Clouston pleaded guilty on Sept. 29 in federal court in Phoenix to a misdemeanor charge of a pattern and practice of knowingly employing unauthorized immigrants and a felony charge of conspiracy to harbor undocumented immigrants, he faced up to a decade in prison, a $250,000 fine, and fines of up to $3,000 for every unauthorized immigrant.
Robert Clouston pleaded guilty on Sept. 29 in federal court in Phoenix to a felony charge of conspiracy to harbor undocumented immigrants, along with a misdemeanor charge of a pattern and practice of knowingly employing unauthorized immigrants, he faced up to a decade in prison, a $250,000 fine, and fines of up to $3,000 for every unauthorized immigrant.
His wife, Brenda Clouston, also pleaded guilty on Sept. 29 to a misdemeanor charge of knowingly hiring unauthorized immigrants, which carries a maximum fine of up to $3,000 per unauthorized worker.
“A conviction for conspiracy to bring illegal aliens to the United States unlawfully, conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, and conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien to unlawfully enter the United States each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine,” a July 17, 2025, ICE press release reads. “A conviction for pattern and practice of knowingly employing unauthorized aliens carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison and up to a $3,000 fine per unauthorized employee.”
Earlier this year on May 28 the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office announced that Iris Cristal Romero-Molina and Luis Pedro Rogel-Jaimes, two former employees and Mexican nationals who were illegally present in the United States and residing in Cottonwood, pleaded guilty to harboring and employing undocumented workers across the Colt Grill locations. The two were sentenced to six months of time served the following month on June 23.
The four created R&R AZ Cleaning to pay the workers with funds from Colt Grill. The Cloustons paid undocumented workers below minimum wage and did not pay them overtime. The plea agreement requires Robert Clouston to properly compensate the employees for their overtime.
The Cloustons’ trial was scheduled for next month and the couple “have been free on their own recognizance,” the Arizona Republic reported.
