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The accused “imposter” behind a phony ransom demand in the Nancy Guthrie case pleaded guilty to harassing her family with a phony ransom payment Thursday in a federal court in Tucson, Arizona.
Guthrie is the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, and she vanished from her home in the city’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood in the early hours of Feb. 1. The following day, ransom demands were sent to local media — and investigators continue to look into their authenticity.
The FBI quickly deemed messages from Derrick Anthony Callella, a 42-year-old man from Hawthorne, California, as a hoax, and he was arrested within days of Guthrie’s suspected abduction and indicted on online harassment charges.
He is expected to receive a sentence of five years on federal probation at a formal sentencing later, according to the Tucson-based KVOA-TV.
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He was accused of contacting Guthrie’s other daughter, Annie Guthrie, and son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, from a spoofed phone number on Feb. 4 and asking, “Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction.” He also allegedly placed a nine-second call to the family afterward.
“Through the course of the investigation, it was found that Callella was acting as an imposter, trying to take advantage of the ongoing situation,” federal prosecutors said in a statement after the suspect’s first court appearance in mid-February.
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According to court documents, investigators have not linked him to a Feb. 2 ransom demand sent to local media and TMZ. They did, however, allegedly link the spoofed number to a Google email account in Callella’s name.
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After being read his Miranda rights, Callella allegedly confessed to sending two messages, saying he had found the family’s contact information online and had been following news coverage of the case, according to the criminal complaint.
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Then-FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Heith Janke told reporters about the arrest in a February news briefing but said the FBI was investigating a different ransom demand as potentially having come from the actual abductor.
Callella had been freed on $20,000 after his arrest and was not allowed to apply for a passport.
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Savannah Guthrie and her siblings previously responded to two other ransom demands, that she said back in March she believes could be legitimate.
The identity of whoever sent them remains a mystery, however, and no arrests have been made.
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“The FBI and its task force partners have received several ransom notes over the course of this investigation,” the FBI’s Phoenix office said in a statement on Wednesday. “Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy. Other ransom demands may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such. This case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case.”
The FBI is assisting in the investigation, the statement added, noting that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department remains the lead agency on the case.
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Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, however, has repeatedly stated that the FBI is leading ransom-related investigations.
“Any questions regarding alleged ransom notes should be directed to the FBI,” he said in a statement of his own. “We appreciate the public’s continued cooperation and the information provided throughout this investigation. Anyone with information that may assist investigators is encouraged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit an anonymous tip to 88-CRIME.”
On Thursday, the sheriff’s department deferred comment on Callella’s plea to the FBI. The feds did not immediately respond.
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