Pizza Chain Owner Threatened Undocumented Workers Into Forced Labor

A Massachusetts pizza shop owner was found guilty on Friday of forced labor charges after prosecutors say he physically abused and threatened to report six undocumented workers to immigration authorities.

Stavros “Steve” Papantoniadis, 48, is the owner of Boston pizza chain Stash’s Pizza. He was convicted of three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor, theU.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts announced.

Papantoniadis’ was initially arrested in March of last year, following reports that he had been targeting undocumented employees for approximately 14 years, NBC affiliate WBTS reported at the time.

After Papantoniadis was arrested, a man at one Stash’s location who identified himself as the co-owner told WTBS, “Everything is not true. It’s all fake, and it’ll be resolved in court.”

Evidence cited in the trial revealed that Papantoniadis purposely employed workers without legal immigration status and forced them to work 14-hour days for as many as seven days a week, federal prosecutors said in the announcement.

According to Boston.com, Papantoniadis was investigated by the labor department in 2017, and during the investigation authorities found evidence that he “tried to intimidate at least one witness.”

“Stavros Papantoniadis instilled fear in his employees. He underpaid and threatened them, some with fear of arrest and many with physical abuse,” Michael J. Krol, Special Agent, said in Friday’s announcement.

Prosecutors said Papantoniadis would “maintain control” over some undocumented workers by making them believe he would physically harm them or have them deported, according to the announcement. Others were physically abused at work.

In one instance cited by prosecutors, Papantoniadis