The Nation - News from Oct. 11, 1988

After more than three years of arguments, motions and other legal maneuvers, a federal trial is set to begin in Hartford, Conn., today for five people accused in the $7.1 million theft from a Wells Fargo depot in 1983. The five are accused of participating in a conspiracy to plot the heist and transport the stolen cash. The government contends that the robbery, the second-largest in U.S. history, was plotted by Los Macheteros, a Puerto Rican nationalist group with a history of violence. Two defendants pleaded guilty last month during jury selection. They are awaiting sentencing.