Between 1973 and 1977, in New York and New Jersey, Shakur was indicted ten times, resulting in seven different criminal trials. Shakur was charged with two bank robberies, the kidnapping of a Brooklyn heroin dealer, attempted murder of two Queens police officers stemming from a January 23, 1973 failed ambush, and eight other felonies related to the Turnpike shootout.Of these trials, three resulted in acquittals, one in a hung jury, one in a change of venue, one in a mistrial, and one in a conviction; three indictments were dismissed without trial.

In her 1973 trial for a September 29, 1972 $3,700 robbery of the Manufacturer's Hanover Trust Company in the Bronx, Shakur and her co-defendant Kamau Sadiki (born Fred Hilton) represented themselves while their lawyers stayed mute, in protest of Judge Gagliardi allotting them what they perceived to be insufficient time for a proper defense. Seven other BLA members were indicted by District Attorney Eugene Gold in connection with the series of holdups and shootings on the same day,who—according to Gold—represented the "top echelon" of the BLA as determined by a year long investigation.