By Stavros Papantoniadis, 49, the owner of two Boston-area pizza shops, has been sentenced to 102 months in prison for using physical violence and threats of reprisal or deportation against employees living in the country illegally. The sentence, handed down in federal court on Friday, also includes one year of supervised release and a $35,000 fine.
Papantoniadis, who owns Stash’s Pizza, a Massachusetts pizzeria chain, was convicted in June of three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor. He remained in custody since his arrest in March 2023.
Prosecutors said that Papantoniadis forced or attempted to force six victims – five men and one woman – to work for him and comply with excessive workplace demands. He used violent physical abuse, threats of violence and serious harm, and repeated threats to report the victims to immigration authorities for deportation.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy said that Papantoniadis was driven by greed to prey on his workers, deliberately hiring foreign nationals who lacked authorization to work in the United States and then turning their lack of immigration status against them.
Papantoniadis thinly staffed his pizza shops and hired undocumented workers to work behind the scenes for 14 or more hours per day, up to seven days a week. He made them believe that he would physically harm them or have them deported, and monitored them with surveillance cameras.
In one instance, when Papantoniadis learned that a victim planned to quit, he choked him, causing the victim to flee the pizza shop. In another case, when a worker tried to leave and drive away from one of the pizza shops, Papantoniadis chased the victim down Route 1 in Norwood, Massachusetts, and falsely reported the victim to the local police to pressure the victim to return to work.
Papantoniadis’ lawyer, Carmine Lepore, said they are pursuing a new trial and an appeal, expressing disappointment in the length of the sentence. Lepore argued that the sentencing guidelines applicable to this case are more appropriate for human traffickers and sexual servitude defendants.
AP
