Derrick Callella, the California man who pleaded guilty in July to penning a fake ransom note amid the search for Nancy Guthrie, was sentenced Monday.
According to court records, obtained and viewed by TheWrap, the 42-year-old Callella of Hawthorne, Calif. was sentenced to two five-year probation terms, which he is set to serve concurrently. Additionally, Callella was ordered to pay $200 for a special assessment and was directed to report to the probation office within 72 hours of his sentencing.
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 shared in July that Callella had admitted in his plea to calling and sending text messages to Guthrie’s family members on Feb. 4, and that he asked about a bitcoin transfer.
“Callella acknowledged that he knew an earlier ransom demand had been made,” the statement noted. “Callella also admitted that his actions were meant to harass the family by seeking information about the investigation into the missing person’s disappearance.”
The mother of “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie was last seen on the evening of Jan. 31, when family dropped her off at her Tucson, Ariz. home following a dinner and a game night. However, by late-midday on Feb. 1, the elder Guthrie was reported missing after she didn’t show up at a friend’s place to watch a virtual church service. Pima County investigators later shared that they believed Guthrie was taken against her will.
Guthrie’s security camera, which had been disabled, later revealed images of a man in a ski mask, jacket, gloves and a backpack outside her property. FBI Phoenix later described the suspect “as a male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall, with an average build.”
Savannah, along with her siblings, have made several public pleas for their mother’s return. In fact, at the end of July, Savannah once again took to Instagram and made an impassioned plea to her mother’s kidnapper.
“I come today with a very specific message,” Savannah said at the time. “It has been months since our mom was taken from us. Our family is in agony. We are in a nightmare that will not end. Nothing about our situation has changed. We have done our part. We will never stop looking for her. We will always ache for her, feel that hole in our hearts.”
“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. 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 one has been arrested or named a suspect in connection with Guthrie’s disappearance, despite multiple searches, analyzed DNA, alleged ransom notes and more. However, one of the aforementioned ransom notes claimed that the Guthrie matriarch “perished shortly after she was taken” and was “buried in nature now.”
The effort continues to locate her presumed remains.
