A California man has been sentenced for penning a fake ransom note in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping case, for which he pled guilty.
Derrick Callella, the 42-year-old from Hawthorne, California, received two-five year probation terms, which he will serve concurrently. He was also ordered to pay $200 for a special assessment, per TheWrap.
This update comes over a month after Callella pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment using a telecommunication device. At the time, it was reported that Judge John C. Hinderaker was planning to hand down a sentence of 10 years probation, with Callella slated to attend a residential addiction treatment facility before his sentencing date.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said that Callella admitted to sending text messages to Guthrie’s family members.
“Callella acknowledged that he knew an earlier ransom demand had been made,” the statement said. “Callella also admitted that his actions were meant to harass the family by seeking information about the investigation into the missing person’s disappearance.”
Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today anchor Savannah Guthrie, was kidnapped from her Tuscon, Arizona, home in February of this year. Security camera footage, which had been disabled, showed a man in a ski mask with a jacket and gloves outside her property.
This past July, Savannah Guthrie took to Instagram to say that her family has been in agony since the kidnapping.
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“The world can be a cruel and unforgiving place and I know you have tried to do things the right way. So I’m asking you, begging you, to do the right thing now,” she continued. “Make the right choice. Help us find her. Tell us where to look for her,” she continued. “I truly believe it is never too late to do the right thing. Help us bring this situation to an end. For all of us, no matter where we’ve been, what we’ve done, I believe there is always a way home. Please make the right choice.”
No arrest has been made and a later alleged ransom note said that Nancy Guthrie “perished shortly after she was taken” and was “buried in nature now.”