United States v. Frank R. Alber

Frank R. Alber appeals his guilty plea conviction and sentence. Alber pleaded guilty to one count of mailing a threatening communication, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 876 , and one count of conspiring to mail a threatening communication, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm in part and remand in part.

I. FACTS AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

In November of 1989, Alber was employed by Marc Kaplan to do computer work for Kaplan’s company. Alber became friends with the Kaplan family. When the business began to fail, he accepted a pay cut. Later, he and others were laid off. Some employees were reinstated when the business began to recover, but Alber was not.

Alber’s life began to fall apart. He was unemployed. His business partnership failed. His girlfriend left him. He lost his townhouse through foreclosure. He was forced to sell his car. He was drinking heavily. Ultimately, Alber began to blame Marc Kaplan for his problems.

On February 6,1992, Alber mailed a letter to Marc Kaplan. The envelope was marked “TO BE OPENNED [sic] BY MARC ONLY’ and was sent to Kaplan’s business address. The letter demanded that Kaplan pay $250,000 in…