Robert Clouston ordered to pay $327,593 restitution 

– Robert Clouston, co-owner of two downtown Paso Robles restaurants – Robert’s and Estrella, has been ordered to pay a victim restitution in the amount of $327,593.71, according to San Luis Obispo County Court documents. Clouston was convicted last year of felony theft after accusations of embezzlement, forgery and identity theft from a 99-year-old Templeton woman. The criminal complaint states that Clouston removed a 17-acre parcel from a joint trust owned by he and the woman in June 2008 and placed it in an LLC, without consulting her, in order to gain sole ownership. 

The court arrived at the above restitution amount by first finding that the debt on the victim’s property is $450,000. The court next found that legitimate offsets due to the defendant added up to $133,813.14. The court then subtracted that sum from the $450,000 figure which resulted in $316,186.86. The court next added to that sum the $11,406.85 which the victim, Ms. Nelson, paid to her lawyers in the civil lawsuit she brought against the defendant. Those figures add up to $327,593.71 which the court set as the restitution owed Ms. Nelson by the defendant.

More offsets were claimed by the defendant, but the court dismissed them. “The court, despite a valiant effort by Mr. Clouston’s attorney to establish far more offsets, finds none. The court so concludes because it doesn’t find Mr. Clouston credible. The court is of this opinion because the people proved at the restitution hearing that Mr. Clouston has made numerous exaggerated or outright false claims in his testimony and his documentary evidence. Accordingly, the court doesn’t believe Mr. Clouston’s assertions regarding the legitimacy of other offsets he is claiming,”  a court document read.

Clouston was sentenced to serve one year in county jail last year. The District Attorney and the San Luis Obispo County Jail were unable to confirm that Clouston has served any of his jail sentence as of today. Currently, he is not in custody. Clouston could not be reached for comment at either of his restaurants.

Related story:

• Robert Clouston sentenced to one year in jail

About the author: News Staff

News staff of the A-Town Daily News wrote and edited this article from local contributors and press releases. Scott Brennan is the publisher of this newspaper and founder of Access Publishing. Connect with him on Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, or follow his blog. He can be reached at [email protected].