Derrick Callella Sentenced for Fake Ransom Note

Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie‘s mother, Nancy Guthrie, is still missing seven months after her abduction in Tucson, Arizona — and a California man was just sentenced for sending a fake ransom note to the family.

On Monday, August 31, Derrick Callella, 42, was sentenced to two five-year probation terms, which will be served concurrently, 12News KPNX reported. He was also ordered to pay a $200 special assessment and report to the probation office within 72 hours.

Callella pleaded guilty on July 2 to two felony charges — transmitting a ransom demand in interstate commerce and using a telecommunications device to threaten or harass — as part of a plea agreement, KOLD-TV reported. If he hadn’t taken the plea deal, Callella could have faced up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine in addition to probation.

On February 4, Callella allegedly texted Nancy’s daughter, Annie Guthrie, and Nancy’s son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, and placed a 9-second call to a family member. He used a VOIP phone line to send a message that read, “Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction.”

Nancy, 84, was last seen at her Catalina Foothills home on the evening of January 31. After her family members reported Nancy missing, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department launched a search with the help of the FBI. Images of a masked man on her front porch have since been released, along with alleged ransom notes.

Although Savannah has offered $1 million on top of other reward money, no suspect has been named in Nancy’s case.

“We are begging for help. We are desperate. We need someone to come forward,” Savannah wrote via Instagram on August 1. “Someone knows something. Someone suspects something… There is a way out — to tell what you know. You can do so anonymously. The reward is available. There is a way to end this situation and do the right thing.”

Additionally, the NBC morning show journalist vowed, “We will never stop looking for answers — and we will never stop looking for the light. We will always be hoping and praying and believing in the best of our world — in spite of circumstance. This is what our faith makes possible. Please. Bring her home.”