A California man who authorities say sent an “imposter ransom demand” to Nancy Guthrie’s family members pleaded guilty to charges on Thursday.
Derrick Callella, 42, pleaded guilty on July 2 to two counts of harassment using a telecommunications device, the United States Attorney’s Office District of Arizona said in a news release.
Callella faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both, and one year of supervised release. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 10.
Investigators say after Nancy Guthrie’s family members released an emotional video asking the kidnappers to contact them, they each received a text message from a phone number with a California area code reading: “Did you get the bitcoin [we’re] waiting on our end for the transaction”.
Officials say they discovered that the phone number was associated with a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) application, eventually linking Callella to the number.
When questioned, investigators say Callella admitted to sending the messages, and said that he pulled the family’s information from a website, and had been following the case.
Retired police Lt. Randy Sutton joins LiveNOW’s Andy Mac to discuss.
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