United States Court of Appeals
                             FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
                                     ___________

                                     No. 97-1769
                                     ___________

United States of America,                 *
                                          *
             Appellee,                    *
                                          * Appeal from the United States
      v.                                  * District Court for the
                                          * Eastern District of Missouri.
Michael Johnson,                          *
                                          *      [UNPUBLISHED]
             Appellant.                   *
                                     ___________

                            Submitted: September 5, 1997
                                Filed: September 10, 1997
                                    ___________

Before FAGG, BOWMAN, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
                          ___________

PER CURIAM.
        St. Louis, Missouri narcotics officers arrested Michael Johnson and his girlfriend
after discovering marijuana in luggage belonging to the two on a Greyhound bus bound
for New York. Johnson later pleaded guilty to possessing more than forty-seven
kilograms of marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)
(1994). The District Court1 reduced Johnson&s base offense by two levels for being a
“minor participant,” see U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 3B1.2(b) (1995); and




      1
        The Honorable Carol E. Jackson, United States District Judge for the Eastern
District of Missouri.
sentenced Johnson to twenty-four months' imprisonment and three years' supervised
release. Johnson appeals, and we affirm.

       Johnson argues, as he did below, that he was entitled to a four-level reduction
as a “minimal participant” under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 3B1.2(a)
(1995). We conclude that the District Court did not err in denying him such a
reduction. See United States v. McCarthy, 

, 1574, 1579 (8th Cir. 1996)
(standard of review), cert. denied, 

, 1284 (1997). The record shows
that although Johnson was recruited by his girlfriend--who was recruited by another
person--both Johnson and his girlfriend expected to be paid for transporting a relatively
large amount of marijuana from California to Rhode Island. See U.S. Sentencing
Guidelines Manual § 3B1.2 cmt. 2 (1995) (minimal-participant reduction is to be used
“infrequently”); United States v. Garvey, 

, 1146 (8th Cir. 1990) (per
curiam) (participant status turns on culpability not courier status; drug quantity is
relevant factor in determining culpability).

      Accordingly, we affirm.

      A true copy.

             Attest:

                     CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.




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