UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 98-6062

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus

KIMBERLY D. JOHNSON, Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Florence. Cameron McGowan Currie, District Judge. (CR-94-83, CA-97-1388-4-22)

Submitted: September 10, 1998 Decided: September 23, 1998

Before MURNAGHAN, MICHAEL, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Kimberly D. Johnson, Appellant Pro Se. Alfred William Walker Bethea, Assistant United States Attorney, Florence, South Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

See Local Rule 36(c).

PER CURIAM: Appellant seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying her motion filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West 1994 & Supp. 1998).

We have reviewed the record and the district court’s opinion and find no reversible error. In her informal brief, Appellant attempts to make two new claims of error regarding sentencing following her criminal conviction. Because she failed to raise these claims be- fore the district court, this court may not now consider their merits. See United States v. One 1971 Mercedes Benz, 542 F.2d 912, 915 (4th Cir. 1976); see also Local Rule 34(b). Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and 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