{"id":4968,"date":"2026-07-02T22:41:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/07\/02\/california-man-pleads-guilty-to-faking-nancy-guthrie-ransom-note\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T22:41:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:41:45","slug":"california-man-pleads-guilty-to-faking-nancy-guthrie-ransom-note","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=4968","title":{"rendered":"California man pleads guilty to faking Nancy Guthrie ransom note"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-14sl0e4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-17l77cs\">\n<figure id=\"de5451ca-2cd1-4a10-a2bc-c8e94e1c1288\" class=\"dcr-191xnya\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"two women side by side\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b08987c43397fe819e47585e02eb5371280f5494\/0_0_3000_2000\/master\/3000.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><span class=\"dcr-kogzpx\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-18mnkpm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1294qmb\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-4sl2vt\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1mfxiaj\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Savannah Guthrie and her mother, Nancy Guthrie, in 2023.<\/span> Photograph: NBC\/Nathan Congleton\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"de5451ca-2cd1-4a10-a2bc-c8e94e1c1288\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-qda0hp\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1e9iiy9\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">Savannah Guthrie and her mother, Nancy Guthrie, in 2023.<\/span> Photograph: NBC\/Nathan Congleton\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-ql9l8l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6mja0y\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-l0wuod\">California man pleads guilty to faking Nancy Guthrie ransom note<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1xpojbf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1gm5ptv\">\n<p>Derrick Callella admitted he called and sent texts to Guthrie\u2019s family, demanding a bitcoin transaction<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-x1al2c\">\n<div class=\"dcr-11gq2tx\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-1w2vkyc\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-ogvvui\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A California man is facing up to two years in prison or a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to sending Nancy Guthrie\u2019s family a phoney ransom note, federal authorities <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-az\/pr\/california-man-pleads-guilty-harassment-connection-ransom-demand\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">announced<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of the Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on 31 January at her residence outside Tucson, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/arizona\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Arizona<\/a>. Inside the home, authorities observed her cellphone, medication and other basic essentials. Law enforcement officers also found drops of her blood near the porch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">After KOLD, a CBS affiliate in Tucson, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kold.com\/2026\/02\/06\/deadline-passes-fbi-nancy-guthries-family-say-there-has-been-no-follow-up-ransom-note\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">reported<\/a> that it had received a ransom demand with a bitcoin wallet address, the Guthrie family posted a video on 4 February, imploring Nancy\u2019s abductors to contact them.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"fa707ab7-55ca-4cca-aed5-84d5890d0758\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-1oq85qr\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-3 | 3\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1rx5ky9\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-15vltj4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jul\/01\/nancy-guthrie-kidnapping-notes\" class=\"dcr-f35c0u\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-vvxpdt\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6z6e7\">\n<div class=\"dcr-zh9rih\">Nancy Guthrie: FBI clarifies it is investigating some extortion demands as legitimate<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-oj13vq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-ef9nua\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Derrick Callella, a 42-year-old resident of Hawthorne, a neighborhood in the greater Los Angeles area, had followed details of Guthrie\u2019s disappearance on TV, according to a February complaint filed with the Arizona district court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Shortly after the family\u2019s public plea, Callella obtained the numbers of Nancy\u2019s daughter, Annie Guthrie, and her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, and sent each a text: \u201cDid you get the bitcoin were waiting on our end for the transaction,\u201d per court documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Law enforcement officials tracked down an email address with Callella\u2019s name that was registered to the number behind the texts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The text messages are unrelated to the ransom demand that KOLD received. According to federal authorities, Callella was seeking to gain information about the investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The FBI continues to investigate extortion notes that may be legitimate related to Guthrie\u2019s disappearance, the agency announced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Callella is scheduled to be sentenced on 10 September.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-swayiu\"><span class=\"dcr-1xhbmzr\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-2c03t5\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-p7nd18\">\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-crime\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US crime<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/california\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">California<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/arizona\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Arizona<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/west-coast\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">West Coast<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-313bdz\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=California%20man%20pleads%20guilty%20to%20faking%20Nancy%20Guthrie%20ransom%20note&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jul\/02\/nancy-guthrie-fake-ransom-note?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-ncybeu\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-19bkree\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fjul%2F02%2Fnancy-guthrie-fake-ransom-note&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/jul\/02\/nancy-guthrie-fake-ransom-note\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-1c41onw\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-axwinp\"><span class=\"dcr-1ryr20k\"><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Savannah Guthrie and her mother, Nancy Guthrie, in 2023. Photograph: NBC\/Nathan Congleton\/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Savannah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}