UNPUBLISHED

                   UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                       FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT


                              No. 04-6033



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                                               Plaintiff - Appellee,

          versus


GREGORY DASH,

                                             Defendant - Appellant.


Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at New Bern.   Malcolm J. Howard,
District Judge. (CR-00-14; CA-02-20-4-H)


Submitted:   March 25, 2004                 Decided:   April 1, 2004


Before TRAXLER, KING, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.


Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.


Gregory Dash, Appellant Pro Se. Mary Jude Darrow, OFFICE OF THE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.


Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:

           Gregory Dash seeks to appeal the district court’s order

dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2000) motion.       We dismiss the

appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the notice of appeal was

not timely filed.

           When the United States or its officer or agency is a

party, the notice of appeal must be filed no more than sixty days

after the entry of the district court’s final judgment or order,

Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(B), unless the district court extends the

appeal period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) or reopens the appeal

period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6).        This appeal period is

“mandatory and jurisdictional.”     Browder v. Director, Dep’t of

Corr., 

, 264 (1978) (quoting United States v. Robinson,

, 229 (1960)).

           The district court’s order was entered on the docket on

June 14, 2002.    The notice of appeal was filed on November 20,

2003.*   Because Dash failed to file a timely notice of appeal or to

obtain an extension or reopening of the appeal period, we deny a

certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.    We dispense

with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are




     *
      For the purpose of this appeal, we assume that the date
appearing on the notice of appeal is the earliest date it could
have been properly delivered to prison officials for mailing to the
court. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(c); Houston v. Lack, 

(1988).

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adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument

would not aid the decisional process.



                                                         DISMISSED




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