While a statewide raid took place across Alabama on Tuesday rounding up undocumented workers in Mexican restaurants across the state, federal agents were also raiding a Foley barbecue restaurant for similar but separate reasons.
Federal agents raided Colt Grill BBQ & Spirits in Foley Tuesday while simultaneously raiding its four sister restaurants in Arizona.
An indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors Tuesday alleges a scheme by the restaurant chain’s owners, Robert and Brenda Clouston, as well as two employees, Luis Pedro Rogel-Jaimes and Iris Romero-Molina, to bring in undocumented workers to work at the restaurants. This would allow the Cloustons to save money by paying the undocumented workers less than minimum wage and foregoing overtime pay.
According to the indictment, the scheme included the Cloustons leasing properties for undocumented workers to live in and acquiring vehicles to transport the workers to and from the restaurants.
The indictment alleges that Clouston encouraged the firing of US citizen employees at the Sedona location in order to create more positions to be filled by undocumented workers.
Although the indictment mentions the Clouston’s ownership of the Foley location, it does not connect the Alabama restaurant to the immigration-related offenses.
