Where is Amy Fisher now? Her life and career after prison

In 1992, a jealous 17-year-old Amy Fisher shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco in the head with a .25 caliber handgun, earning the infamous name ‘Long Island Lolita.’ Fisher was having an affair with Mary Jo’s husband, Joey Buttafuoco, and had grown tired of his refusal to leave Mary Jo. 

Mary Jo survived the attack, and after regaining consciousness, she identified Amy as the assailant. The case gained widespread media attention, with every new detail proving more scandalous than its predecessor. 

Fisher pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated assault, earning a sentence of five to fifteen years. She served seven years before securing parole in 1999. 

Following Amy’s release from prison, she became a columnist for the Long Island Press. Her 2004 book, If I Knew Then, became a New York Times Best Seller. 

By the time the biography hit bookstore shelves, Amy had married Louis Bellera. The couple settled in Florida, where they welcomed a son and two daughters in eight years. 

After their divorce in 2015, Amy and the kids moved to a house in Long Island paid for by Amy’s mother. The four-bedroom ranch house is located an hour’s drive from where she shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco. 

Fisher told the New York Post that her notoriety had made her family’s life in Florida unbearable. She explained:

“My kids were ostracized in Florida. They had no friends. All the mothers thought their kids would get the Amy Fisher gene if they hung out with them. Things got so bad for my [eldest] son, the school psychologist even suggested he drop out and get his GED.”

Fisher also described an incident with a stalker who accessed their gated community to harass her. “I was really scared,” Fisher said. “I want me and my children to be safe. I don’t want any lunatics coming after me.”

Amy could have settled in another state where people were less likely to recognize her, but she felt drawn to Long Island due to the presence of family. She explained:

“My aunt was telling me to come back. I was isolated in Florida, away from the people we love. Here I have a big Italian family and they all accept me. We enjoy our pasta and meatballs. My children have cousins they can play with.”

Amy Fisher legally changed her name in 2016 to make herself less recognizable. 

Even with the prospect of jail time looming, Fisher knew she could cash in on her infamy. Three months before her sentencing, tabloid television show Hard Copy released an audio recording between Fisher and her ex-lover Paul Makely. 

Among other things, the outlet recorded Fisher asking Paul to marry her as part of a scheme to keep her name in the news. Amy said:

“That will keep my name in the press. I want my name in the press. Why? Because I can make a lot of money. I figure if I’m going through all this pain and suffering, I’m getting a Ferrari.”

Fisher’s notoriety doubtlessly contributed to the sales of her biography, but the book’s success did little to quell Amy’s love for the limelight. In 2007, Fisher reclaimed her place on tabloids when her ex-husband sent a sex tape of the pair to Red Light District Video. 

Despite reports that Bellera sold the video and Fisher reached a lump sum settlement with the distributor, both parties claimed they didn’t earn money from the tape. “I have earned nothing but embarrassment,” Amy said, per the New York Daily News. 

Bellera said: “I was just a regular Joe when I got involved with that. I never made a dime out of it.” Amy told the New York Post she didn’t enjoy doing porn:

“I was never happy doing it, and he would just sit there and watch, even while I cried. He likes money and he likes attention. Him and Joey were the same that way. They say you always pick the same person – scumbags.”

Amy briefly worked as a stripper after signing a deal with Lee Entertainment. She worked in several strip clubs on the East Coast before leaving the industry, reportedly due to backlash from fans. In June 2011, Amy retired from making adult films. 

Reports claim that Amy works as a webcam model, creating content from her Long Island home. “This is what I have to do to make money,” she allegedly said.

The younger version of Amy Fisher couldn’t resist older men: Joey Buttafuoco was two times Fischer’s age when the couple started their affair; Bellera, Amy’s ex-husband, was 24 years her senior. 

Fisher told the New York Post that her attraction to older men ended following her divorce. She explained:

“When I met Lou, he was in his 40s and looked great, but he’s 70 now and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, it’s like geriatric.’ I was like 15 or 16 when I met Joey, he was 32 and a person that age is still in great shape. I just don’t find them attractive. I only want to date people my own age.”

Dating isn’t easy for Amy due to her infamous past. She described finding a new boyfriend as a ‘nightmare.’ “As soon as they find out who I am, it’s the kiss of death or they have a million questions,” she lamented. “Nobody wants to date me. My longest relationship lasted like six weeks.” Amy told the outlet that she hadn’t had sex in over a year. 

In 2012, Amy’s former lovers, Buttafuoco and Bellera, boxed each other on Celebrity Fight Night. Bellera told Huffington Post that the proceeds of the fight would go to charity:

“People can spin it any way they want, but this is an event for charity. I’ll turn 61 right before the fight and feel I am in top physical condition. This is about living life and meeting another challenge.”

During Fisher’s first trial, Mary Jo said she saw no remorse in Fisher. “All this damage by someone who still shows no remorse for her actions,” Mary Jo said. 

Amy and Mary Jo’s relationship improved after the pair, and Amy’s mother started exchanging letters. During Amy’s retrial in 1999, Mary Jo said she’d accepted her apology and urged the judge to approve Fisher’s release from prison. Mary Jo said:

“She has shown true remorse and sorrow for what she did to me. You are being given a second chance in life, and I pray you will take it and make something positive out of all this tragedy.”

Mary Jo criticized Fischer’s lawyer during the first trial, Eric E. Naiburg, for misleading Fisher into signing the plea deal. Fisher said Naiburg told her she would spend three-and-a-half years in prison if she signed the deal; she also accused him of having a sexual relationship with her. Mary Jo explained:

“He lied to her to get her to plead. He filled her head with sexual fantasies and put her on national TV, telling her what to say. He manipulated her for five years, acting as if he were her Hollywood agent and she were his star.”

Bruce A. Barket, Amy’s attorney, thanked Mary Jo for her ‘unselfish act of forgiveness.’ Fisher criticized herself, saying she was solely to blame for the aggravated assault:

“I’d like to say something to Mary Jo. What happened to you was not your husband’s fault, not your fault, not my father’s fault and not Eric Naiburg’s fault. It was my fault, and I have spent the last seven years trying to figure it out.”

Amy and Mary Jo reunited on Entertainment Tonight in 2006. During the awkward encounter, Fisher said she wanted to heal and move on and shared a warm embrace with Mary Jo. Two years later, Fisher conveyed a different message, saying she had no sympathy for Mary Jo.