Derrick Anthony Callella, the California man who admitted to sending a fake ransom demand to Nancy Guthrie's family, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Tucson to two concurrent five-year probation terms.
Callella, 42, of Hawthorne, California, pleaded guilty in July to two felony counts of using a telecommunications device to threaten or harass. Court records show he was also ordered to pay a $200 special assessment and report to a probation office within 72 hours of sentencing.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona, Callella texted and called two of Guthrie's family members - her daughter Annie and son-in-law Tommaso Cioni - on Feb. 4, days after Nancy Guthrie was reported missing, asking about a bitcoin transfer. He later told the court he had followed the case in the news and was aware other ransom notes had already been sent.
In a memo filed ahead of sentencing, Callella pointed to a methamphetamine addiction as a factor in his actions, saying he wanted to be "addicted to his recovery" going forward. He tested positive for the substance the day of his guilty plea and completed a court-ordered stint in residential treatment beforehand.
Callella has no confirmed connection to Nancy Guthrie's actual disappearance. The 84-year-old mother of TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie was last seen Feb. 1 at her home in the Catalina Foothills area near Tucson, and her whereabouts remain unknown more than seven months later.
As the search continues, the Guthrie family remains in the prayers of many who have followed the case since February.
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