A Californian man has pleaded guilty to harassment after he was found to be demanding money from the family of Nancy Guthrie, the missing 84-year-old mother of Today show star Savannah Guthrie.
Nancy went missing from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on February 1, after spending the previous night out with her family.
The 42-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment using a telecommunications device on Thursday, per a press release from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.
Court records state that the man texted Nancy’s daughter, Annie Guthrie, and her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, on February 4, just after the family released their first video message asking her kidnappers for her safe return.
“[The man] acknowledged that he knew an earlier ransom demand had been made,” said the press release. “Callella also admitted that his actions were meant to harass the family by seeking information about the investigation into the missing person’s disappearance.”
His text message reportedly read: “Did you get the bitcoin were [sic] waiting on our end for the transaction.”
The individual is facing the possibility of two years in prison or a $250,000 fine or even both, or probation for up to 10 years with a plea deal.
As per KOLD, he was set to check in to a residential addiction treatment facility. The man will be sentenced on September 10.
Currently, authorities have ramped up their investigations into the ransom notes the family had received in the wake of Nancy’s disappearance, with the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office sharing on Wednesday that they were busy sorting through which of the notes were legitimate and which were fake.
“Several ransom demands have been received throughout this investigation,” the FBI’s statement read. “Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy. Other ransom demands may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such.”
