Derrick Callella Pleads Guilty in Bitcoin Ransom Hoax as FBI Still Probes Other Demands
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 2
Derrick Callella Pleads Guilty in Bitcoin Ransom Hoax as FBI Still Probes Other Demands
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 2
Summary
Federal court in Tucson accepted Derrick Anthony Callella’s guilty plea Thursday after prosecutors said he impersonated a kidnapper and tried to extort bitcoin from Nancy Guthrie’s family.
Callella, 42, allegedly used a spoofed phone number on Feb. 4 to message Guthrie’s daughter and son-in-law about a bitcoin “transaction,” then later confessed to sending two messages after investigators tied the number to his Google account.
Five years of federal probation is the expected sentence, according to local TV, after Callella had been arrested within days of the disappearance and later released on $20,000 bond.
The plea does not resolve the kidnapping case: investigators say Callella has not been linked to a Feb. 2 ransom demand sent to media, and the FBI says other ransom notes may still be legitimate.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, has been missing from her Tucson-area home since the early hours of Feb. 1, with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and FBI still seeking public tips.