A federal judge has ordered the California man who pleaded guilty to sending phony ransom messages to the family of missing Arizona woman Nancy Guthrie to enter inpatient substance abuse treatment while awaiting sentencing, according to federal court records.Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing from her Catalina Foothills home outside Tucson on Feb.1.
The following day, local media outlets received ransom demands that investigators continue to examine as potentially legitimate.Derrick Anthony Callella, 42, was arrested days after Guthrie's disappearance after the FBI determined he had sent fraudulent ransom messages to members of her family.FBI SAYS NANCY GUTHRIE ABDUCTION DEMANDS MAY BE ‘LEGITIMATE’ AS CASE STILL PROBED AS KIDNAPPING FOR RANSOMDerrick Callella allegedly tried to extort bitcoin from the Guthrie family after Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.(Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images/Obtained by Fox News)Callella later pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment using a telecommunications device and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept.
10 by U.S.District Judge John C.
Hinderaker.Federal investigators have said Callella was not responsible for an earlier ransom demand sent to local media.The FBI has said that demand remains under investigation as authorities continue investigating Guthrie's disappearance as a kidnapping-for-ransom case.The amended release conditions require Callella to reside at an inpatient substance use treatment facility or halfway house, comply with all program requirements and contribute toward the cost of treatment as directed by the U.S.
Pretrial Services Division.NANCY GUTHRIE RANSOM NOTES DON'T MATCH SUSPECT'S BEHAVIOR, PROFILER SAYS: 'I DON'T BELIEVE THEY'RE REAL'The order also authorizes the U.S.Marshals Service to remove Callella from the program and place him in temporary custody if he fails to comply with treatment requirements.
Upon completing the program, he may reside...