The owner of a pizzeria is sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for threatening to deport his workers

BOSTON– The owner of two Boston-area pizzerias convicted of forced labor for using physical violence and threats of retaliation or deportation against employees living in the country illegally has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison.

Stavros Papantoniadis, 49, of Westwood, owner of Stash’s Pizza, a Massachusetts pizza chain, was sentenced Friday in federal court to 102 months in prison, one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a $35,000 fine. dollars.

Papantoniadis forced or attempted to force six victims (five men and one woman) to work for him and comply with excessive workplace demands through violent physical abuse; threats of violence and serious harm; and repeated threats to report the victims to immigration authorities for deportation, according to prosecutors.

In June, a jury convicted Papantoniadis of three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor. Papantoniadis remains in custody since his arrest in March 2023.

A lawyer for Papantoniadis said he is pursuing a new trial and appeal.

“Although the judge saw fit to sentence him slightly below the guidelines, we are disappointed by the length of the sentence,” Carmine Lepore said in an email. “The sentencing guidelines applicable to this case are most appropriate for human traffickers and sexual servitude defendants.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said Papantoniadis was driven by greed to take advantage of his workers.

“Labor trafficking exploits the vulnerable through fear and intimidation, all in pursuit of almighty money. “That’s what Stavros Papantoniadis did when he violated the rights of people who work in his restaurants,” Levy said.

“He deliberately hired foreign nationals who lacked authorization to work in the United States and then turned their lack of immigration status against them, threatening them with deportation and violence to keep them under his control,” he added.

Papantoniadis understaffed his pizzerias and deliberately hired workers without immigration status to work behind the scenes, for 14 or more hours a day and up to seven days a week, investigators said.

To control undocumented workers, he made them believe he would physically harm them or deport them and monitored them with surveillance cameras. When Papantoniadis learned that a victim was planning to quit smoking, he strangled him, causing the victim to flee the pizzeria.

When another worker attempted to leave and walk away from one of Papantoniadis’ pizzerias, Papantoniadis chased the victim down Route 1 in Norwood, Massachusetts, and falsely reported the victim to local police to pressure him to return to work at the pizzeria. , prosecutors said.