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Even if authorities don’t seem to know who Porch Guy is or where Nancy’s remains might be, at least one aspect of this painful story is over.
This week, a man pleaded guilty for his role in this family nightmare.
He confessed to sending ransom demands to the Guthries.
Though he has no apparent knowledge to help find Nancy, he won’t be prolonging their anguish any further.
He entered a guilty plea
On Thursday, July 2, Derrick Callella pleaded guilty to transmitting a demand for ransom in interstate commerce.
He also pleaded guilty to using a telecommunications device to abuse, threaten or harass a person.
Callella is a resident of Hawthorne, California.
He texted two members of Guthrie’s family on February 4 — Annie and Tommaso Cioni. For context, this was mere days after Nancy’s abduction.
Callella also allegedly made a nine-second call to another relative.
Obviously — now, to us — Callella was making fake ransom demands.
He had no knowledge of the case, no access to Nancy, and could only demand payment via cryptocurrency.
According to court records, Callella used a VOIP line to message: “Did you get the bitcoin [we’re] waiting on our end for the transaction.”
This message came mere moments, investigators say, after the Guthrie family’s first public plea for proof of life.
But, despite the content of his messages, Callella had no involvement with the abduction. There was no “we.” He wanted an easy payout for himself.
The Guthries have suffered enough
As we previously reported, the FBI determined that the ransom notes mailed to various media outlets were forgeries.
This goes for those sent in February and for the additional note sent to TMZ in recent weeks.
It isn’t simply that sending false messages to try to scam money out of grieving, desperate people is illegal.
These notes — the ones in February, at least — gave the Guthrie family hope that she might be alive.
It is now widely believed by most that Nancy died very early into her abduction. The family’s hopes of reunification with her were false.
Callella has not yet been sentenced.
His sentencing hearing will be in just over two months, on September 10.
At that time, he will be ordered to 10 years of probation.
According to court records, after entering his guilty plea, he reported to a residential addiction treatment facility.
Reading between the lines, this appears to be a case of a troubled individual who made things worse for an already grieving family.
We hope that rehab helps him to set his right life. Then, at least some piece of good can come from the horror story that the Guthries have now endured for half a year.