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Joey Buttafuoco, Wife Getting Divorce
By TOM HARRIGAN
The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 6, 2003; 12:22 AM
LOS ANGELES - Joey Buttafuoco, whose name became a household word in the 1990s after "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher shot his wife in the face, confirmed Monday that he and his wife of 26 years are splitting up.
"It's OK. To move on you've got to get a divorce," Buttafuoco said in a telephone interview. "She's with another guy. His name is Stew. I've been with a girl for awhile, too."
Buttafuoco's attorney, Leon F. Bennett, said the two remain friends and are "trying to work out an amicable resolution."
Mary Jo Buttafuoco, who filed divorce papers in Ventura County Superior Court on Feb. 3, did not list an attorney in her filing and could not be located for comment.
Fisher, dubbed the Long Island Lolita by the New York City tabloids, was 17 when she shot knocked on Mrs. Buttafuoco's door and then shot her in the face. She served seven years in prison.
Buttafuoco, who initially denied having an affair with Fisher, pleaded guilty in 1993 to one count of statutory rape and served six months in jail.
He said Monday he only pleaded guilty because he had run out of money and wanted to put the case behind him.
"She was never a girlfriend, never a lover," said Buttafuoco, 48. "The prosecutors spent so much time and money coming after me they had to get a conviction."
In 1995 he pleaded no contest to soliciting sex from an undercover policewoman in Los Angeles.
Buttafuoco, who owned a Long Island auto body repair shop at the time of the shooting, moved to Los Angeles in the mid-90s to pursue an acting career. He said he's since returned to the car repair business, and now works with his adult son.
"I do all the Ferraris," he said. "I do a little TV and movies but that doesn't put a lot of butter on my bread."
© 2003 The Associated Press
By TOM HARRIGAN
The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 6, 2003; 12:22 AM
LOS ANGELES - Joey Buttafuoco, whose name became a household word in the 1990s after "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher shot his wife in the face, confirmed Monday that he and his wife of 26 years are splitting up.
"It's OK. To move on you've got to get a divorce," Buttafuoco said in a telephone interview. "She's with another guy. His name is Stew. I've been with a girl for awhile, too."
Buttafuoco's attorney, Leon F. Bennett, said the two remain friends and are "trying to work out an amicable resolution."
Mary Jo Buttafuoco, who filed divorce papers in Ventura County Superior Court on Feb. 3, did not list an attorney in her filing and could not be located for comment.
Fisher, dubbed the Long Island Lolita by the New York City tabloids, was 17 when she shot knocked on Mrs. Buttafuoco's door and then shot her in the face. She served seven years in prison.
Buttafuoco, who initially denied having an affair with Fisher, pleaded guilty in 1993 to one count of statutory rape and served six months in jail.
He said Monday he only pleaded guilty because he had run out of money and wanted to put the case behind him.
"She was never a girlfriend, never a lover," said Buttafuoco, 48. "The prosecutors spent so much time and money coming after me they had to get a conviction."
In 1995 he pleaded no contest to soliciting sex from an undercover policewoman in Los Angeles.
Buttafuoco, who owned a Long Island auto body repair shop at the time of the shooting, moved to Los Angeles in the mid-90s to pursue an acting career. He said he's since returned to the car repair business, and now works with his adult son.
"I do all the Ferraris," he said. "I do a little TV and movies but that doesn't put a lot of butter on my bread."
© 2003 The Associated Press