FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The main owner of a popular Milwaukee restaurant, once convicted of traveling to meet a minor for sex, remained in the Broward County jail Friday after federal authorities arrested him at a Hollywood hotel earlier in the week — for more child sex crimes, prosecutors said.
Stelio Kalkounos is the managing partner of the upscale Five O’Clock Steakhouse in Wisconsin’s largest city, according to multiple media reports.
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According to federal court documents, in 2006, he pleaded guilty to and was given a 46-month sentence for a federal charge of traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in a sexual act with a minor. He was required to register as a sex offender.
Kalkounos, 51, appeared in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Thursday following his latest arrest the day prior. He’s now accused of sex trafficking a minor and producing child sexual abuse material.
Prosecutors allege the crimes took place from July 2023 to March 2024 in the Western District of Wisconsin “and elsewhere,” though it’s not clear if South Florida was one of those places.
An indictment provided few details; federal authorities allege he “recruited, enticed, and obtained a minor, knowing she would be caused to engage in commercial sex acts” and, on Nov. 20, 2023, “used a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.”
A U.S. Department of Justice news release doesn’t state which hotel Kalkounos was staying in at the time of his arrest, though it does thank the Seminole Police Department for assisting; the tribe’s officers are responsible for patrolling the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
He’s set to remain held in the Paul Rein Detention Facility in Pompano Beach until his extradition to Wisconsin, where he’s set to be tried in Madison federal court.
Authorities said Kalkounos could spend the rest of his life in federal prison.