SAN FERNANDO, Calif. – Joey Buttafuoco, a car mechanic who made national headlines in the early 1990s when his teenage girlfriend shot and wounded his wife, has been charged with illegal possession of ammunition.

Buttafuoco, 49, pleaded not guilty Friday following a search two days earlier of his home by the probation department, said district attorney’s spokeswoman Jane Robison.

Authorities said Buttafuoco, who was sentenced in March 2004 to a year in jail and five years probation after pleading guilty to felony insurance fraud, allegedly violated probation by possessing ammunition.

Buttafuoco, who co-owned a body shop at the time, told undercover investigators how to file fake insurance claims for undamaged vehicles.

Buttafuoco was a New York auto body shop owner in 1992 when his lover, Amy Fisher, 17 at the time, shot his wife in the face. Fisher, nicknamed the “Long Island Lolita,” served seven years in prison.

Buttafuoco pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape and served four months in jail. He and his wife, Mary Jo, divorced after moving to California.