United States Court of Appeals
                            FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
                                    ___________

                                    No. 03-3636
                                    ___________

United States of America,                *
                                         *
             Appellee,                   *
                                         * Appeal from the United States
      v.                                 * District Court for the
                                         * Northern District of Iowa
James R. Harker-Bey,                     *
                                         *   [UNPUBLISHED]
             Appellant.                  *
                                    ___________

                              Submitted: May 4, 2004

                                   Filed: May 18, 2004
                                    ___________

Before BYE, McMILLIAN, and RILEY, Circuit Judges.
                            ___________

PER CURIAM.


      James Harker-Bey appeals from the final judgment entered in the District
      1
Court for the Northern District of Iowa upon revocation of his supervised release.
The district court sentenced Harker-Bey to 14 months imprisonment followed by
continuation of his supervised release until its original expiration date. For reversal,
Harker-Bey argues that the district court engaged in speculation in concluding that


      1
       The Honorable Linda R. Reade, United States District Judge for the Northern
District of Iowa.
he missed his drug-testing appointments because of cocaine usage, and failed to
consider his proffered reasons--he had been having memory problems and mental-
health issues--for missing his appointments. For the reasons discussed below, we
affirm the judgment of the district court.

       In July 1994 Harker-Bey pleaded guilty to distribution of marijuana, in
violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and was sentenced to 78 months imprisonment and
5 years supervised release. Harker-Bey commenced supervised release in June 2000.
In October 2003, the government petitioned for revocation based on Harker-Bey’s
drug and alcohol use and multiple failures to report for drug testing, all of which
Harker-Bey admitted.

       We reject Harker-Bey’s arguments. The 14-month prison term imposed by the
district court is within the range recommended by the Sentencing Guidelines, see
U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4(a) (8-14 month range), and is not an abuse of discretion, see United
States v. Grimes, 

, 492 (8th Cir. 1995) (standard of review). Furthermore,
the district court was not obligated to credit, or to use as a basis for sentencing
leniency, the explanations offered by Harker-Bey as to why he violated his
supervised-release conditions. See United States v. Hensley, 

, 41 (8th Cir.
1994).

      Accordingly, we affirm.
                     ______________________________




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