Additional Coverage:
- Boston pizzeria owner gets 8.5 years in prison for forced labor of undocumented workers (nbcnews.com)
Boston Pizza Owner Sentenced for Exploiting Undocumented Workers
Stavros Papantoniadis, the owner of the Stash’s Pizza chain, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for abusing and exploiting undocumented workers.
Papantoniadis forced six employees to work grueling 14-hour shifts, seven days a week, using threats of violence and deportation to control them. He also monitored them with surveillance cameras and verbally abused them.
When one victim tried to quit, Papantoniadis choked him and chased another victim down the highway. He threatened to kill or report them to immigration if they left.
Papantoniadis was previously investigated for labor violations. In 2017, he was sued for failing to pay overtime and falsifying time records. He was also accused of wage violations in 2019.
The sentence sends a strong message that exploiting undocumented workers will not be tolerated. Acting US Attorney Levy praised the victims for coming forward and taking a stand.
Papantoniadis’s attorney expressed disappointment with the sentence, claiming it is more severe than appropriate for labor violations. The defense plans to appeal and seek a new trial.