[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]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,
55 F.3d 693, 696 (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, 886 F.2d 474,
476 (1st Cir. 1989).
Affirmed. See 1st Cir. Loc. R. 27.1.
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