Boston pizzeria owner jailed for abusing employees

Crime

Prosecutors say Stavros Papantoniadis trafficked seven of his employees, all undocumented immigrants, by forcing them to work overtime and threatening to alert authorities if they refused.

The owner of local pizzeria Stash’s Pizza was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for forcing his employees, undocumented immigrants, to work overtime without pay and without breaks, threatening to inform law enforcement about their immigration status.

In addition to the eight-and-a-half years in prison, business owner Stavros Papantoniadis of Westwood faces three years of supervised release and a $35,000 fine, sentencing documents said.

Prosecutors said Papantoniadis planned his business to “force victims to work against their will.” Papantoniadis used physical force, threats of violence and threats of deportation to exert control over his employees, prosecutors said.

IN JuneThe jury found Papantoniadis guilty of three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor and acquitted him of another charge of forced labor. Papantoniadis’ indictment names seven victims, all of whom were illegal immigrants who worked at one of his establishments.

“Thanks to his criminal behavior, his business was successful,” the verdict said. “At the same time, the victims lived in fear, worked when they didn’t want to, and were always mindful of the physical and legal consequences the defendant could impose. This fear fueled the defendant’s actions.”

Papantoniadis’ methods of violence

During the trial, prosecutors said Papantoniadis intentionally hired undocumented immigrants to force them to work in harsh conditions without the threat of legal retribution.

After Papantoniadis was found guilty, Acting Massachusetts State’s Attorney Joshua Levy issued statement detailing how Papantoniadis violated the law and the safety of his employees. Levy’s statement said Papantoniadis would monitor his employees via CCTV cameras and deliberately force them to work more than 14 hours a day for seven days in a row.

When one of his employees threatened to quit, Papantoniadis strangled the victim and forced her to flee, prosecutors said.

Papantoniadis committed similar acts of intimidation against other employees who tried to quit, prosecutors said.

“Papantoniadis told one victim that he would kill him and call immigration authorities; and he threatened another worker by telling him he knew where the victim lived,” Levy said in the statement. “When another employee attempted to leave and drive away from one of Papantoniadis’ pizzerias, Papantoniadis chased the victim down Route 1 in Norwood, Massachusetts and falsely reported the victim to local police in an attempt to pressure the victim to return to work at the pizzeria.”

This was reported by the representative office of Papantoniadis. Boston Globe that he did not traffic the victims, but instead they wanted to work for him.

“They came to work for him. Over 32 years, he had hundreds, if not thousands, of employees, and these people, seven of them, failed,” a representative of Papantoniadis told the publication. Globe.

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Eva Levin is a General Purpose Cooperative contributor at Boston.com. She covers breaking news and local news in Boston and beyond.

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