UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 97-4762

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

versus

WITHROW WILSON,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Shelby. Lacy H. Thornburg, District Judge. (CR-96-53)

Submitted: August 27, 1998 Decided: September 10, 1998

Before NIEMEYER and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges, and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Rion Brady, Archdale, North Carolina, for Appellant. Mark T. Calloway, United States Attorney, Deborah A. Ausburn, Assistant United States Attorney, Richard L. Harrison, Third-Year Law Student, Asheville, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

Withrow Wilson filed an untimely notice of appeal. We dismiss

the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The time periods for filing

notices of appeal are governed by Fed. R. App. P. 4. These periods

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

Corrections,

(1978) (quoting United States v.

Robinson,

(1960)). In a criminal case a defendant

has ten days within which to file in the district court notices of

appeal from judgments or final orders. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b). The

district court entered its judgment on May 5, 1997. Wilson’s notice

of appeal was filed on September 16, 1997. Appellant’s failure to

file a timely notice of appeal or to obtain an extension of the

appeal period leaves this court without jurisdiction to consider

the merits of his appeal. We therefore dismiss the appeal. We

dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions

are adequately presented in the materials before the court and

argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

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