Boston pizza chain owner sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for forced labor, feds say

The owner of Stash’s Pizza, a Boston-area pizza chain, was sentenced Friday after being convicted on charges that he forced employees to work for him under threat of physical violence, federal prosecutors said.

Stavros Papatoniadis, 49, of Westwood, was sentenced to 102 months (8½ years) in prison and one year of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement. He must also pay a $35,000 fine.

Federal prosecutors said Papantoniadis was convicted in June of three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor. He has been in custody since his arrest on March 16, 2023.