Grand jury indicts managing partner of Milwaukee’s Five O’Clock Steakhouse for sex trafficking a minor

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By Chris Ramirez 

A federal indictment that was unsealed Thursday (May 16) accuses a Milwaukee man of trafficking a minor for sex and producing child pornography.

The indictment against Stelio Kalkounos, 51, was returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Madison on Wednesday, according to Timothy M. O’Shea, the U.S. attorney for Wisconsin’s Western District. The indictment was unsealed following Kalkounos’ arrest in Florida.

Kalkounos is managing partner of Five O’Clock Steakhouse on State Street.

Prosecutors allege in court papers Kalkounos recruited, enticed and obtained a minor, knowing she would be caused to engage in commercial sex acts from July 16 to March 1.

The indictment also alleges on Nov. 20, Kalkounos used a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.

Kalkounos was arrested Wednesday at a hotel in Hollywood, Florida, with the help of the Seminole Police Department and personnel from the FBI’s Tampa and Miami field offices. He made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Kalkounos was being held at the Broward County Jail on Thursday, online court records show. He will remain there until he is taken to U.S. District Court in Madison.

Kalkounos faces 10 years to life in prison on the sex trafficking charge, if convicted. He faces 25 to 50 years in prison on the production charge.

Court records shows Kalkounos was convicted in November 2006 after traveling to meet who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl for sexual acts. He was met by Milwaukee police, who were operating a sting.

The charges against Kalkounos were the result of an investigation by the FBI Madison Field Office. FBI Tampa and Miami Field Offices and the Seminole Police Department in Florida helped arrest Kalkounos.

The FBI is asking anyone with information about Kalkounos to contact the FBI in Milwaukee at 414-276-4684, option 7.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor Kraus is handling the prosecution.

This article was originally published by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and was republished with permission.