Derek Calella: Fake Ransom Texts and Federal Charges

Derrick Callella is a 42-year-old Hawthorne, California, man who was arrested by the FBI on February 5, 2026, for allegedly sending fake ransom texts to the family of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie who vanished from her Tucson, Arizona, home days earlier. Federal prosecutors say Callella had no role in the actual abduction and called him an “imposter” and a “grief profiteer” who tried to exploit the case for money.¹

What Callella Allegedly Sent

On February 4, 2026, shortly after the Guthrie family posted a public video acknowledging earlier ransom communications, Callella allegedly sent text messages to Nancy Guthrie’s daughter Annie Guthrie and her husband Tommaso Cioni from a phone number with a 760 area code. The message read: “Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction.” About three minutes later, a nine-second call was placed from the same number to another family member.²

According to the federal criminal complaint, Callella used a Voice over Internet Protocol application to generate the fake number. After being read his Miranda rights, he admitted to sending the messages. He told agents he had obtained the family’s contact information from a “cyber website,” had learned about the earlier ransom demands by watching television coverage, and sent the texts to “see if the family would respond.”²

How the FBI Traced Him

Investigators traced the VOIP account used to send the texts to Callella’s personal Gmail address, and from there to his home in the Los Angeles area.³ An FBI SWAT team took him into custody at his Hawthorne residence on the morning of February 5.¹

Federal Charges and Court Proceedings

Callella was charged in the U.S. District Court of Arizona under case number 26-04209MJ with two counts:³

Transmitting a demand for ransom in interstate commerce, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison under federal law.⁴
Using a telecommunications device with intent to abuse, threaten, or harass a person without disclosing identity.

He made his first court appearance on February 6, 2026, at the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California, before Judge Karen E. Scott, and was released on a $20,000 bond.⁵ At a February 12 appearance in Tucson federal court, he was released under conditions that included no contact with victims or witnesses and mandatory monitoring of all his personal electronic devices.⁶

Callella initially pleaded not guilty. As of June 2026, he was scheduled to change his plea at a hearing set for July 2026 at the federal courthouse in Tucson.⁷

Prior Legal Trouble

The federal ransom case was not Callella’s first brush with the justice system. Courthouse News reported that a man with the same name and date of birth was charged with grand theft in Los Angeles County in October 2025 for allegedly receiving nearly $10,000 in fraudulent unemployment benefits, and was arraigned on those state charges in November 2025.⁸ LA Mag reported that Callella was a Department of Health Services Intermediate Clerk arrested as part of a case involving more than a dozen Los Angeles County employees accused of stealing roughly $10,000 in bogus overtime.¹

No Link to the Actual Abduction

Federal authorities have been emphatic that Callella had nothing to do with Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping. The criminal complaint explicitly states he is “not linked to the Bitcoin ransom demand” that was emailed to Tucson television station KOLD News 13 on February 2, which demanded $4 million in Bitcoin and contained non-public details about the crime scene.⁹¹⁰ By his own admission, Callella learned the family’s contact details from an online source and picked up the ransom storyline from television news before sending his texts.²

FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Heith Janke called Callella an “imposter” who tried to “take advantage and profit from this situation,” and warned that other “grief profiteers” would be prosecuted.¹ Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance remained unsolved as of mid-2026, and the FBI continued to offer a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to her recovery or to the arrest of those responsible.¹¹

1
LA Mag. Hawthorne Man to Appear in Federal Court for Imposter Ransom Demand to Guthrie Family
2
Tucson.com. Man Arrested in Imposter Ransom Case
3
U.S. Department of Justice. California Man Makes Initial Appearance for Transmitting Demand for Ransom
4
Cornell Law Institute. 18 U.S. Code § 875 – Interstate Communications
5
KPTV. Man Accused of Sending Fake Ransom Note in Nancy Guthrie Case Appears in Court
6
WBTV. Man Accused of Writing Imposter Ransom Note to Nancy Guthrie Family Released From Custody
7
KGUN9. Man Charged in Nancy Guthrie Ransom Text Case Set to Change His Plea
8
Courthouse News. FBI Charges Man With Making Phony Ransom Demand in Guthrie Kidnapping Case
9
ABC 7 Chicago. Derrick Callella Arrested for Demanding Bitcoin Ransom From Guthrie Family
10
People. Nancy Guthrie Disappearance Ransom Notes What to Know
11
FBI. FBI Reward – Nancy Guthrie