Amy's Baking Company has had a rough go recently, and it may
yet get worse: Sami Bouzaglo, one of the restaurant's owners, may be facing
deportation.
According to a report in The Arizona Republic, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are investigating Bouzaglo, an
Israeli citizen, regarding time he spent in prison prior to his immigrating to
the United States.
Bouzaglo's immigration lawyer did not disclose details of
the case to the Republic, but the paper, citing a "high-ranking law
enforcement source," reports that Bouzaglo's international record hints at
involvement in "drug distribution, threats, and extortion."
The Scottsdale, Ariz., restaurant originally soared to
infamous heights after a disastrous "Kitchen Nightmares" episode
appeared to trigger a self-destruct sequence on the company's Facebook page.
Owners Sami Bouzaglo and his wife, Amy, later stated the bizarre, profane posts
("You people are all s**t," "I AM NOT STUPID ALL OF YOU
ARE," among others) were the work of a hacker.
More recently, the restaurant's PR firm, Rose+Moser+Allyn,
which was hired specifically to manage the resulting storm of negative
publicity, quit. Company spokesman Jason Rose diplomatically explained to Fox
News, "It's fair to say, that while we were in agreement on some
approaches, there was disagreement on others."
The report of Bouzaglo's deportation hearings comes less
than a day after Amy's Baking Company marked its "grand reopening."
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