Por Marlene Lenthang — NBC News
The owner of a pizza chain in Boston, Massachusetts, who forced undocumented people to work for him under violent physical abuse and threats of deportation, has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
Stavros Papantoniadis, 49, owner of Stash’s Pizza, a pizza chain that operates in the Dorchester and Roslindale neighborhoods, seriously mistreated six of his undocumented employees, reported the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. in a press release.
“Papantoniadis forced or attempted to force five men and one woman to work for him through violent physical abuse, threats of abuse, and repeated threats to report the victims to immigration authorities so that they would be deported,” the statement said.
Papantoniadis knowingly employed workers without legal status to work in his sparsely staffed pizzerias in grueling shifts of 14 hours a day or more, up to seven days a week, according to prosecutors.
He also monitored them with surveillance cameras and “constantly degraded, insulted and harassed them,” according to the statement.
One of Stash’s Pizza pizzerias, in Boston.Google Maps
To keep them under his control, he “made them believe he would physically harm them or have them deported,” authorities said.
Sometimes the abuse became violent. When Papantoniadis learned that one of the victims planned to resign, he “violently strangled” her, causing the victim to flee the pizzeria and run toward the parking lot.
When another victim tried to drive away, Papantoniadis chased her down Route 1 in Norwood and told her that he had reported her to the police to pressure her to return to work at the pizzeria, according to prosecutors.
When other victims expressed their intention to resign, “Papantoniadis told one of them that he would kill her and call immigration authorities; and threatened another worker by telling him that he knew where the victim lived.”
Papantoniadis, who had already faced investigations prior to this case for his labor practices, was arrested in March 2023.
In June, he was convicted in a jury trial of three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor.
Papantoniadis was sentenced Friday to 102 months in prison, one year of supervised release and a $35,000 fine, according to authorities.
His attorney, Carmine Lepore, told NBC News on Tuesday that they were “disappointed by the length of the sentence.”
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“The sentencing guidelines applicable to this case are more appropriate for those accused of human trafficking and sexual exploitation,” Lepore said, noting that his attorneys are seeking a new trial and will appeal.
“He deliberately hired foreign nationals who lacked authorization to work in the United States and then used their lack of immigration status against them, threatening them with deportation and violence to keep them under his control,” explained Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy in a statement. “I commend the bravery of the victims for speaking out and standing up to their trafficker.”
Levy said the “harsh sentence” is proof that “there are serious consequences for business owners who engage in this type of conduct.”
Papantoniadis’ conviction is the latest in a series of complaints about labor practices at his businesses. Previously, the man had pizzerias in Norwood, Norwell, Randolph and Weymouth and Wareham.
NBC Boston reported that the Department of Labor filed a lawsuit in March 2017 against Stash’s Pizza, Boston Pizza Co and Weymouth Pizza Co and owners Stavros Steve Papantoniadis y Polyxeny Paulina Papantoniadis, alleging that they failed to pay adequate overtime to 120 employees, misrepresented pay rates and falsified time worked records.
In 2019, the owners of the business were ordered to pay more than $300,000 in back wages, according to NBC Boston.
