Massachusetts Pizza Chain Owner Found Guilty Of Abusing Workers

The owner of a Massachusetts pizza chain was found guilty of forcing six employees to meet excessive work demands and threatening them with violence and deportation, Ehren Wynder reported for United Press International (UPI).

Papantoniadis reportedly thinly staffed his pizza restaurants and purposefully hired undocumented workers, forcing them to take up to 14-hour shifts for as many as seven days a week.

A federal jury convicted Stash's Pizza owner Stavros "Steve" Papantoniadis, 48, on three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor, according to a notice Friday from the US Attorney's Office in Massachusetts.

The verdict comes after a lengthy investigation into Papantoniadis, who has been in custody since March 2023.

His sentencing hearing is set for Sept. 12. Each count carries up to 20 years in prison and up to five years of supervised release.

According to trial records, Papantoniadis thinly staffed his pizza restaurants and purposefully hired undocumented workers, forcing them to take up to 14-hour shifts for as many as seven days a week.

He controlled his workers via threats of physical harm or deportation. He monitored them via surveillance cameras, which he had access to from his cellphone, and repeatedly insulted and harassed them, according to court documents.