California Man Pleads Guilty to Harassing Nancy Guthrie’s Family

A man from California has admitted guilt in a harassment case involving the family of Nancy Guthrie. Derrick Callella, aged 42, residing in Hawthorne, entered a guilty plea to two harassment charges involving a telecommunications device. These charges were confirmed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Thursday.

This conviction is the only criminal charge linked to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. Guthrie, who is the 84-year-old mother of Savannah Guthrie, the co-host of Today, vanished from her home in the Tucson, Arizona area five months prior.

By pleading guilty, Callella confessed to contacting members of Guthrie’s family on February 4. He did so by asking about a bitcoin transfer via calls and text messages. The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated, “He acknowledged that he knew an earlier ransom demand had been made.” Callella admitted that his actions aimed to bother the family by requesting information regarding the ongoing investigation into Guthrie’s disappearance.

Authorities arrested Callella on February 5. The criminal complaint asserted that, after receiving Miranda warnings, he confessed to messaging Guthrie’s daughter and son-in-law on February 4. Callella followed the case through television coverage.

The text messages arrived shortly after the Guthrie family released a video appeal, urging her abductors to make contact.

This video appeal occurred following local news reports on February 2 about a purported ransom note demanding bitcoin payment. The complaint mentioned Callella also made a nine-second phone call to a family member.

The charges could result in a maximum of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. However, Callella’s plea agreement requires him to serve five years of probation as reported by ABC7. His sentencing is scheduled for September 10.