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10-29-2024 10:46pm
Westwood Resident, Owner of Stash's Pizza, to Serve 8.5 Years in Prison for Forced Labor Charges
Darlene Cancell
Editor
A 48 year-old Westwood resident who owns pizzeria chain Stash’s Pizza was sentenced on October 25th for forced labor charges and has been ordered to serve 102 months in prison, one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $35,000 fine.
Stavros (“Steve”) Papantoniadis was convicted by a jury earlier this June for three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor. He has been in custody since he was arrested on March 16, 2023.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts, Mr. Papantoniadis thinly staffed his pizza shops and forced his victims – five men and one woman- to work for 14 or more hours per day and as many as seven days per week. He monitored employees with surveillance cameras and used excessive workplace demands through violent physical abuse to make his victims comply.
“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,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy in a press release.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also noted that Mr. Papantoniadis violently choked one victim upon learning he planned to quit, told one victim he would kill him and call immigration authorities, and threatened another worker by telling him he knew where the victim lived. When one worker tried to leave by driving away from a pizza shop, Mr. Papantoniadis chased the victim down Route 1 in Norwood, and made a false report to local police as a pressure tactic to force the victim to return to work.
Mr. Papantoniadis owns Stash’s Pizza in Dorchester and Roslindale and previously owned pizzerias in Norwood, Norwell, Randolph (Boston Pizza Company), Weymouth (Pacini’s Italian Eatery) and Wareham.
“I commend the bravery of the victims here for speaking out and taking a stand against their trafficker,” said U.S. Attorney Levy. “I hope that their strength to speak out sends a message to others whose rights are being abused that the federal government will not tolerate labor trafficking. The stiff sentence imposed on Mr. Papantoniadis demonstrates that there are grave consequences for employers who engage in this type of conduct,” he said.
The sentencing of Mr. Papantoniadis affirms the federal government’s commitment to “aggressively investigate labor trafficking by individuals who enrich themselves through coercion or force,” said Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent-in-Charge, Northeast Region of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.
If you believe you are victim of labor trafficking or have information about labor trafficking, please call the U.S. Attorney at 888-221-6023 option 5, or send an email with contact information to USAMA.VictimAssistance@usdoj.gov.
