Nancy Guthrie Imposter Pleads Guilty Over Fake Ransom Notes in Federal Case

The man accused of posing as a kidnapper and sending a bogus ransom demand tied to the Nancy Guthrie case admitted Thursday in federal court in Tucson, Arizona, that he harassed her relatives with a fake ransom-payment scheme.

Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills area in the early morning hours of Feb. 1. A day later, ransom messages were delivered to local news outlets, and investigators are still examining whether those communications were legitimate.

Authorities with the FBI soon determined that messages sent by Derrick Anthony Callella, 42, of Hawthorne, California, were fraudulent. He was taken into custody just days after Guthrie’s suspected abduction and later indicted on federal online harassment charges.

Callella is expected to be sentenced to five years of federal probation at a future sentencing hearing, Tucson-based KVOA-TV reported.

Prosecutors said Callella contacted Guthrie’s other daughter, Annie Guthrie, and her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, on Feb. 4 using a spoofed phone number. In the message, he allegedly wrote, “Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction.” He is also accused of making a nine-second phone 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 following his first court appearance in mid-February.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.