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/' No. 04-3863

FI LED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
. FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT JAN 12 Z005

LAl"'JCEPOUGH, ) LEONARD GREEN, Clerk

)
Petitioner-Appellant, )
)
v. .)
)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )
)
Respondent-Appellee. )
)
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Before: MARTIN, Circuit Judge.

Lance Pough applies for a certificate of appealability in his appeal of a district court judgment

denying his motion to vacate his sentence filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. See Fed. R. App. P.

22(b). He has also filed a motion to proceed in forma pauperis.

In 2000, Pough pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute powder and crack cocaine in

violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846. The. court sentenced him to seventeen years of

imprisonment. A panel of this court affirmed Pough's conviction and sentence on appeal. United

____ States y. Pough, No. 00-3936,2001 WL 113,6035 (6th Cir. Sept. 19,1Q01).

Thereafter, Pough filed a § 2255 motion, arguing that trial and appellate counsel rendered

ineffective assistance. Upon review, the district court initially denied the motion as untimely.

However, the court granted Pough's motion to amend judgment, and reinstated his § 2255 motion.

Upon review of the merits of Pough's claims, the district court concluded that neither trial nor

appellate counsel had rendered ineffective assistance, and it denied the §2255 motion as without

merit.