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MILWAUKEE — Stelio Kalkounos, 53, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for child sex crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Kalkounos, a former managing partner of Five O’Clock Steakhouse of over 20 years, was arrested in May 2024. The Milwaukee man pled guilty to a charge of receiving child sex abuse material on May 13, 2026.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 2022, Kalkounos met a 16-year-old girl online. He met her at Racine County hotels, paying her to “engage in sexual activity” in 2022 and 2023.
In 2023, the DOJ said Kalkounos met another 16-year-old girl online. He paid her for explicit images and videos. He then met her at Madison hotels “for commercial sex” over the course of five months. She told Kalkounos that she was a minor.
Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson said he considered Kalkounos’ level of danger to the community when deciding on a sentence. He said Kalkounos “pressured the survivors to perform sex acts they did not want to do and treated them cruelly,” the DOJ said. He called the crimes “very disturbing.”
Peterson also cited Kalkounos’ criminal history. Kalkounos went across state lines in 2006 to have sex with a 14-year-old girl, who turned out to be an undercover officer. He served time in federal prison for that offense. Because he was not confident Kalkounos would refrain from committing additional crimes, he said the length of the sentence was warranted.
