Former Pitt football star Buczkowski pleads guilty in prostitution ring

A former Pitt star and NFL first-round draft pick has pleaded guilty to helping run a million-dollar prostitution ring out of his parent's Monroeville home.

Bob Buczkowski, 43, ran an escort service along with his girlfriend, Amy Schifano, police said. Buczkowski provided the muscle and Schifano was the madam, the state Attorney General's office said.

Schifano, 31, of Plum, will plead guilty to prostitution charges at her hearing next week, her attorney, Patrick Thomassey, said today.

Buczkowski pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of promoting prostitution, six counts of possessing and dealing cocaine and several other charges. He agreed to testify against others charged in the ring, if their cases proceeded to trial.

He will be sentenced Sept. 5 by Common Pleas Judge John A. Zottola.

Tom Ceraso, Buczkowski's lawyer, declined comment pending sentencing.

Schifano and Buczkowski placed ads in the adult classified section of the City Paper to solicit customers throughout Allegheny County, authorities said. Employment ads in the same paper were used to recruit prostitutes to their escort service, Buckwild Entertainment, which did business as B.A.G. Enterprises Inc., according to an indictment from a statewide grand jury.

The escort service received between 100 and 300 phone calls a day from February 2003 to June 2005, generating about $1 million in that span.

Schifano and Buczkowski used cell phones to arrange drug sales, and undercover agents bought cocaine from the pair 11 times, authorities said.

Customers frequently were instructed to meet the women at hotels or one of two Pittsburgh apartments maintained by Schifano -- in the South Side and on Mt. Washington. Sometimes, the prostitutes were driven to the customers, and Buczkowski often tagged along to provide protection. Customers were charged between $150 to $200 for each appointment, and Schifano's cut was between $50 and $80, Attorney General Tom Corbett has said.

Buczkowski, who made ESPN's list of "Biggest First-Round Busts," was selected by the Los Angeles Raiders as the 24th pick in the first round of the 1986 NFL Draft. He went on to play for the Phoenix Cardinals in 1989 and the Cleveland Browns in 1990 before he was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in 1991. Plagued by back problems, Buczkowski was cut by Seattle in August 1991 after five years in the NFL.