A Hawthorne man on Thursday pleaded guilty to federal charges of sending a fake ransom note to the family of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, whose mother, Nancy, was abducted in a mystery that captured national attention.
Derrick Callella entered the plea in Arizona to charges of transmitting a demand for ransom in interstate commerce and utilizing a telecommunications device with intent to abuse, threaten or harass a person. He faces up to 10 years probation when he is sentenced Sept. 10.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, disappeared from her Tucson suburb home Feb. 1. She was last seen the previous night after she was dropped off around 9:45 p.m.
With Guthrie missing, the FBI extracted and released doorbell camera images of an armed and masked man outside her home on the morning of her disappearance. The FBI has labeled that unknown man as a suspect in the abduction.
A few days after Nancy Guthrie vanished, Callella, 42, according to prosecutors, used a voice over internet protocol text and call application to surreptitiously reach out to the Guthrie family, but authorities were able to link the phone number to his email address and later his residence, according to the criminal complaint.
“Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction,” read the message sent to at least two family members, according to the federal criminal complaint filed in Arizona.
According to data reviewed by authorities, Callella texted the family twice and called them at least once.
The complaint said Callella later admitted to sending the two text messages.
In his plea, Callella admitted that he called and sent text messages to a missing person’s family Feb. 4, which asked about a bitcoin transfer. Callella admitted that his actions were meant to harass the family by seeking information about the investigation into the missing person’s disappearance.
The FBI’s Phoenix office on Wednesday said some ransom notes relating to the February disappearance of Nancy Guthrie were potentially “legitimate,” while others have been discounted as “extortion attempts.”
“This case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case,” the FBI Phoenix office said in a post on X, noting that law enforcement had received “several ransom notes over the course of this investigation.”
At least two ransom notes were sent to Arizona TV stations — with the first demanding cryptocurrency for her release, while a second sent to the stations indicated the grandmother with a pacemaker had died and was “with nature,” according to two sources.
According to federal officials, Callella is the same individual who was charged with unemployment fraud in October by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, accused along with 12 others of working for the county while also filing for — and receiving — unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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