The trials for the four Colt Grill locations in Arizona and one in Alabama raided in July are moving through federal courts.
Luis Pedro Rogel-Jaimes and Iris Cristal Romero-Molina, 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 at Colt Grill locations in the Village of Oak Creek, Cottonwood, Prescott, Prescott Valley and Foley, Alabama, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday, May 28.
“Both remain in federal custody and are scheduled for sentencing in June before expected deportation after serving their prison sentences,” YCSO wrote.
Homeland Security Investigations and several other law enforcement agencies after a three-year labor exploitation investigation and a five-count federal indictment executed search warrants across five Colt Grill locations on July 15.
Twenty-eight federal search warrants and four federal arrest warrants were carried out for Rogel-Jaimes, Romero-Molina and Colt Grill owners Brenda and Robert “Bob” Kenneth Clouston.
“All four indicted individuals were arrested July 15 without incident,” ICE stated July 17. “While executing the warrants, law enforcement also arrested several undocumented illegal aliens for criminal or administrative immigration violations.”
In September 2022, the Cloustons, Rogel-Jaimes and Romero-Molina allegedly made a plan that Romero-Molina would create a cleaning company, R&R AZ Cleaning, that would operate as a staffing company for the Colt Grill restaurants, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Rogel-Jaimes and Romero-Molina allegedly would then find undocumented workers to work at the restaurants, paying them through R&R AZ Cleaning with funds from Colt Grill, Larson Newspapers reported in July.
“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,” the 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.”
The cases against the Cloustons are ongoing in federal court with trial currently scheduled for November, though previous court dates have been pushed back several times. The Cloustons were released on bond shortly after their arrests.
