Derrick Anthony Callella (sometimes spelled Calella), a 42-year-old from Hawthorne, California, was sentenced in federal court in Tucson on August 31, 2026, for sending fake ransom messages to the family of Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of NBC Today co-host Savannah Guthrie. He received two five-year terms of probation, to run concurrently. Prosecutors and investigators have said from the start that his messages had nothing to do with the actual disappearance.
The Fake Bitcoin Ransom Texts
On February 4, 2026, Callella texted Guthrie’s daughter Annie and her husband, Tommaso Cioni, from an internet phone line, asking whether they had received the bitcoin and saying he was waiting on the transaction. According to investigators, he also placed a nine-second call to a family member. The messages arrived shortly after the family released a video appealing for proof of life, at a moment when they were desperate for any real contact from the people holding Nancy.
Investigators traced the line to a Gmail account registered to Callella and to his home in California. According to the criminal complaint reported by CBS News, he admitted sending the message after finding the family’s information online. When he later pleaded guilty, the Justice Department said he knew about earlier ransom demands that may have been genuine, and that he admitted intending to harass the family by seeking information about the investigation.
Arrest, Bond and Court Appearances
Callella was arrested and charged on February 5, 2026, with transmitting a ransom demand in interstate commerce and with using a telecommunications device to abuse, threaten or harass a person without disclosing his identity. He made his first appearance on February 6 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California, where he was released on a $20,000 bond and barred from applying for a passport. He was then due in federal court in Tucson on February 12.
Spectrum News reported that he also had an outstanding failure-to-appear warrant linked to a 2007 misdemeanor case, and his lawyer said Callella may have believed it had already been resolved. The defence described the ransom texts as an isolated incident and said he had no history of making threats.
Guilty Plea and Sentence
On July 2, 2026, Callella pleaded guilty in Tucson before U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker to two counts of harassment using a telecommunication device. Each count carried a maximum of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, followed by supervised release. At sentencing on August 31, he received two concurrent five-year probation terms and a $200 special assessment, and was ordered to report to the probation office within 72 hours, according to TheWrap.
- Defendant: Derrick Anthony Callella, 42, of Hawthorne, California
- Arrested: February 5, 2026
- Plea: July 2, 2026, two counts of telecommunication harassment
- Sentence: August 31, 2026, two concurrent five-year probation terms
What Happened to Nancy Guthrie
Nancy Guthrie, 84, disappeared from her home in the Catalina Foothills area near Tucson, Arizona, on the night of January 31, 2026, and was reported missing the next day. She had spent the evening at her daughter Annie’s home and was dropped off at her own house around 9:45 p.m.; surveillance showed her garage door closing at about 9:50 p.m. Her doorbell camera disconnected at 1:47 a.m., and her pacemaker disconnected from the monitoring app on her phone at 2:28 a.m. Blood found on her front porch was later confirmed to be hers.
In February, the FBI described the man seen on her doorbell camera as masked, 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-10, of average build, and carrying a black 25-liter Ozark Trail backpack. The bureau doubled its reward to $100,000 for information leading to her recovery or a conviction. AwesomeTV has followed the case, including the release of the ransom notes and the appeal for public help and the FBI’s DNA work at her Arizona home.
The Investigation Continues
Prosecutors have stressed that Callella’s stunt had no link to Guthrie’s abduction or to the ransom notes sent to media outlets. The FBI received several ransom notes during the investigation; his and some others were ruled illegitimate, while others remained under review, and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said two or three people had been arrested over fake notes. As of late August 2026, Nancy Guthrie had not been found and no suspect had been named, while investigators continued to work through DNA, video and other evidence. Savannah Guthrie has spoken publicly about her family’s ordeal, including when she returned to the Today show. Anyone with information can contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.
About the author
Daya Nanoskar is an Entertainment Writer at Awesome TV and a contributor to AWSM Times. Daya covers film news, streaming releases, celebrity updates and industry news across Hollywood and Bollywood, and has written more than 2,300 stories for Awesome TV. Story tips and corrections: hello@awesometv.com.
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