BERKELEY, Calif. -- A Bay Area activist was found guilty Wednesday of breaking into a meat processing plant and stealing four chickens she said had been mistreated, in a trial that was being closely watched by animal rights groups and the agricultural industry.

A jury in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, convicted Zoe Rosenberg, 23, of felony conspiracy, trespassing and other charges for a nighttime raid she conducted at Petaluma Poultry in 2023. Rosenberg, a student at the University of California, Berkeley, faces up to 4 1/2 years in jail.

But the verdict's implications are likely to ripple far beyond Sonoma County, a rich agricultural region known not just for its cattle and poultry but also its wine industry.

Rosenberg is a prominent member of Direct Action Everywhere, an anima

See Full Page