2 former Arizona restaurant workers plead guilty in labor exploitation case

Two former Arizona restaurant employees who were arrested last year as part of a federal labor exploitation investigation have pleaded guilty, authorities said.

Luis Pedro Rogel-Jaimes and Iris Cristal Romero-Molina admitted to hiring and harboring undocumented workers at four Colt Grill restaurants in northern Arizona and one in Alabama, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office announced last week.

Rogel-Jaimes and Romero-Molina are Mexican nationals who were living in the country illegally in Cottonwood when they were arrested in July 2025.

They will be sentenced later this month and are expected to be deported after serving their prison time, according to the sheriff’s office.

Explaining the Colt Grill allegations

Rogel-Jaimes and Romero-Molina were accused of conspiring with Colt Grill owners Robert and Brenda Clouston to hire undocumented workers and avoid paying proper employment taxes.

They allegedly created a cleaning company in September 2022 that operated as a staffing company for Colt Grill restaurants in Cottonwood, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Sedona and Foley, Alabama.

Rogel-Jaimes and Romero-Molina allegedly recruited the workers and paid them below minimum wage through R&R AZ Cleaning with money from Colt Grill.

On May 27, 2025, a grand jury indicted the four defendants on charges of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien to unlawfully enter the United States, and pattern and practice of knowingly employing unauthorized aliens.

They were arrested along with several undocumented individuals July 15, 2025, according to federal prosecutors.

The Cloustons’ trial was initially scheduled to begin Tuesday, but the start date was moved to Nov. 10, according to the Verde Valley Independent.

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