Los Angeles man pleads guilty to fabricating ransom demand in Nancy Guthrie case
Derrick Callella admitted to sending false ransom texts and a call after the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, receiving a plea deal that includes five years of probation and residential drug treatment.
A Los Angeles County resident, Derrick Callella, pleaded guilty to two counts of telephonic harassment for sending false ransom texts and making a phone call following the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, an 84-year-old woman from the Tucson area. The plea agreement, entered in federal court in Tucson, calls for five years of probation on each count, to run concurrently, and orders Callella into a residential drug-treatment program. He is scheduled to return to court for sentencing in September.
Federal investigators say the messages were sent shortly after Guthrie’s daughter, Savannah Guthrie, publicly appealed for information about her mother’s whereabouts. The case remains open, with FBI-released footage showing a masked individual near Guthrie’s home and blood evidence found on the porch.
