LA County man pleads guilty to sending fake ransom texts to Savannah Guthrie's family
A 42-year-old man from Los Angeles County pleaded guilty to sending fake ransom texts to Savannah Guthrie's family amid the high-profile search for the "Today" show host's mother, Nancy Guthrie.
Hawthorne resident Derrick Callella pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment using a telecommunication device, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release. He's expected to be sentenced on Sept. 10.
Callella sent a text to the family on Feb. 4 shortly after Nancy Guthrie's children posted a video on social media, pleading with the possible abductor for their mother's safe return, according to the FBI.
"Did you get the bitcoin [we are] waiting on our end for the transaction," Callella wrote.
The FBI said Callella used a program to disguise his phone number. However, agents were still able to trace the text message to an IP address linked to Callella's home in California, according to the criminal complaint filed against him.
Agents arrested him on Feb. 5 in Hawthorne, about five miles away from LAX. In the criminal complaint, the FBI said Callella admitted to sending the message after he found the family's information online. Investigators said he also tried to call Nancy Guthrie's family shortly after sending the texts.
"The two text messages have not been linked to the February 2, 2026, ransom demand," the FBI wrote in the criminal complaint.
In a statement to CBS News, the FBI said investigators have received several ransom notes in the wake of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.
"The FBI and its task force partners have received several ransom notes over the course of this investigation," an FBI official said Wednesday in a statement to CBS News. "Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy. Other ransom demands may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such."
