[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]



                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT





                        

                                 ____________________





        No. 95-1132 



                               PETER N. GEORGACARAKOS,



                                     Petitioner,



                                          v.



                                     J.D. LAMER,



                                     Respondent.





                                 ____________________



                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT



                              FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE



                     [Hon. Morton A. Brody, U.S. District Judge]
                                            ___________________



                                 ____________________



                                        Before



                                Torruella, Chief Judge,
                                           ___________

                           Selya and Stahl, Circuit Judges.
                                            ______________



                                 ____________________



            Peter N. Georgacarakos on brief pro se.
            ______________________

            Jay P. McCloskey, United States  Attorney, and Michael  M. DuBose,
            ________________                               __________________

        Assistant United States  Attorney, on motion for summary dismissal for

        appellee.







                                 ____________________



                                   August 16, 1995

                                 ____________________













































                      Per  Curiam.    Appellant  Peter  N.  Georgacarakos
                      ___________



            appeals  from the denial of  a motion to  vacate his sentence



            filed under 28 U.S.C.   2255.  After reviewing the record and



            the parties'  briefs, we affirm the judgment  of the district



            court  for the  reasons set  forth in  the December  13, 1994



            Recommended Decision of the  magistrate judge (adopted by the



            district  court  judge on  December 27,  1994).   We  add the



            following comments.



                      First, it  is clear that appellant's  claims in the



            current    2255 motion are  based on the  same ground as  the



            claim he  presented  in the  previous    2255  proceeding  --



            counsel provided ineffective assistance  by failing to  raise



            an  entrapment defense.  Thus, the district court did not err



            in  dismissing appellant's  motion as  successive.   See Rule
                                                                 ___



            9(b), Rules Governing Section  2255 Proceedings in the United



            States District Courts ("[a]  second or successive motion may



            be dismissed if the  judge finds that it fails to  allege new



            or different  grounds for relief and  the prior determination



            was on the merits").



                      Second, appellant's assertion that his attorney did



            not present  any defense at  trial plainly is  wrong; counsel
                         ___



            specifically argued that venue was not proper in the district



            of  Maine.  That we  rejected this argument  on direct appeal



            does not  transform appellant's trial  into one  of which  it



            could be said that no defense was mounted.  As a result, even





































            if  we  were to  consider appellant's     2255 motion  on the



            merits, it would fail.



                      Affirmed.
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