When we lasted visited the saga of Kevin R. Foote, the embattled principal in the shuttered BenchWarmers sports bars, he had been arrested for a parole violation, which led to the abrupt closing of the three restaurants and the unemployment of roughly 300 staff members.
Foote was arrested July 28 for violating parole because he allegedly left the state without permission and used an unauthorized credit card.
He served his time, then moved in September to a halfway house that was under contract with the Department of Corrections.
Meanwhile, the Erie Police Department was investigating numerous complaints from unpaid contractors who worked on the restaurants to determine whether the charges should be criminal — if Foote never intended to pay the contractors — or if a civil suit should be brought forward.
Chief investigator Lt. Lee Mathis told me Tuesday that his department had turned the case over to the FBI because of possible interstate violations stemming from a suddenly shuttered eatery in Amarillo, Texas.
While the Colorado division of the FBI wouldn’t comment on the case, the Weld County district attorney’s office confirmed that it has some preliminary reports from law enforcement agencies regarding this case.
“However, this is an open investigation that goes across multiple jurisdictions, so we are still waiting on a few materials before the case can even be reviewed at our office,” said Jennifer Finch, community-relations director for the Weld County DA.
Foote, however, is back in the metro area’s burgeoning restaurant business as a consultant to the Penalty Box, a proposed chain of sports bars that is slated to open its first outlet around Aug. 1 in the defunct C-Level Restaurant & Sports Bar space at 5175 W. 68th Ave. in Arvada.
The website, , includes plans to expand the concept to Colorado Springs, Fountain and Loveland.
But how Foote, who left a wake of unpaid bills to vendors and employees, can relaunch his career in the restaurant business is a mystery.
The state Department of Revenue, which seized all BenchWarmers properties, recouped its tax losses through an auction, according to department spokesman Mark Couch.
Employees, however, say they are still owed for back wages. At the time of BenchWarmers’ demise, Hopi Mondale was the Aurora restaurant’s general manager who said she let vendors reclaim their unpaid goods and invited employees, with authorization of one of the partners, to take the rest.
Mondale estimates she is still owed three paychecks totaling roughly $4,500.
“My biggest worry is that (Foote) shouldn’t be part of our society whatsoever because he owes people so much,” Mondale said when she called me Wednesday. “I’m concerned that he doesn’t hurt anybody else in the process of this.”
The Penalty Box could not be found registered as a business with the Colorado secretary of state’s office, nor have owners applied for a liquor license.
Pamela Tauman, Penalty Box executive vice president of marketing and public relations, wrote in an e-mail that Foote is not part of the proposed chain’s ownership, emphasizing that he is working purely as a consultant.
“This is a new company with new ownership,” Tauman said. “This company is well aware of his history and believe(s) in giving people second chances.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on “Caplis & Silverman” between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
