five
appellants here—with numerous offenses. The trial of the
Group One defendants began on March 1, 2001. On January
30, 2002, a defendant-turned-cooperator, Frank Howard,
testified before the grand jury. Two days later, on February 1,
2002, McGill was indicted for tampering with a witness by
killing and felon in possession of a firearm. A superseding
indictment filed on March 13, 2002, added further counts
against McGill, including drug conspiracy, RICO conspiracy,
and violent crime in aid of racketeering activity.

     The superseding indictment named Group One
codefendants Kevin Gray and Rodney Moore as the heads of
the RICO conspiracy in which McGill allegedly participated.
The indictment also alleged that McGill joined the enterprise
in 1996, distributed cocaine on Gray’s behalf, and committed
acts of violence—including the attempted murder of a
witness—in order to further the purposes of the enterprise.
Onto two prior Maryland
convictions. Both cases involved robberies that took place in
April 1989. The first case went to trial in 1989. McGill was
found guilty of assault with intent to rob and use of a handgun
in the commission of a felony, but he was acquitted of
robbery with a deadly weapon. The second case went to trial
in 1990. McGill was found guilty of theft and robbery with a
deadly weapon, though he was acquitted of assault and battery
of the robbery victim and attempted murder and assault of a
police officer at the scene.

      McGill concedes that the government could cross-
examine him about the fact that he had been convicted of the
Maryland crimes under Federal Rule of Evidence 609, which
enables a party to introduce evidence of a witness’s