Pletcher

MEMORANDUM *

Adam Quinn Pletcher appeals his jury-trial conviction and 70-month sentence for four counts of mailing threatening communications with intent to extort, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 876 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Fletcher’s convictions arose out of four letters he sent to Bill Gates, in which he threatened to kill Gates and others if Gates did not pay him $5 million. Pletcher did not raise in the district court most of the contentions he now asserts on appeal. We therefore review for plain error. See Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 466-67 , 117 S.Ct. 1544 , 137 L.Ed.2d 718 (1997) (outlining the four prongs of the plain error inquiry); United States v. Perez, 116 F.3d 840, 846 (9th Cir.1997) (en banc) (same).

Pletcher initially contends that the district court’s instruction on the elements of 18 U.S.C. § 876 was erroneous because it omitted the element of specific intent to threaten. 1 We first note that Fletcher’s *620 intent to threaten was uncontested at trial. His confession, which was read to the jury, stated that he decided to write letters with the threat to kill Gates, which were written “in a tone to maximize…