[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

No. 96-1755

UNITED STATES,

Appellee,

v.

JAMES OTIS RAINES,

Defendant, Appellant.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE

[Hon. D. Brock Hornby, U.S. District Judge]

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge,

Campbell, Senior Circuit Judge,

and Boudin, Circuit Judge.

Gordon R. Blakeney, Jr. on brief for appellant.

Jay P. McCloskey, United States Attorney, James L. McCarthy and

Margaret D. McGaughey, Assistant United States Attorneys, on brief for

appellee.

March 25, 1997

Per Curiam. Upon careful review of the briefs and

record, we conclude that defendant's plea should not be

vacated. The district court told defendant that he was

"subject to a term of imprisonment which is a minimum of 15

years." Even though the district court did not state that

the minimum sentence was "mandatory," that slip does not

entitle defendant to relief in the circumstances of this

case.

Defendant offers no plausible reason for his belated

attempt to change his plea; he makes no claim of innocence;

and there is nothing legally suspect about the plea. The

proceedings as a whole suggest that defendant reasonably

should have understood, and did understand, the sentencing

implications of his plea. See United States v. Lopez-Pineda,

(1st Cir. 1995).

We also find no merit in defendant's contention

regarding an enhancement for obstruction of justice. That

enhancement had no bearing on the armed career criminal

sentence ultimately imposed here under U.S.S.G.

4B1.4(b)(3). See United States v. Ruiz-Garcia,

(1st Cir. 1989).

Affirmed. See 1st Cir. Loc. R. 27.1.

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