Raitt Pleads Guilty to Trespassing

GLENDALE HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) - Bonnie Raitt has pleaded guilty to trespassing charges from an anti-logging protest at a wood products company.

The singer and 16 other activists from the Rainforest Action Network were arrested on disorderly conduct charges after refusing to leave the parking lot of Boise Cascade Office Products in Itasca on July 25.

The San Francisco-based environmental group has accused Boise Cascade of logging ecologically vital old-growth timber.

On Tuesday, the activists negotiated a deal to plead guilty to less serious trespassing charges. DuPage County Judge George Sotos then fined each activist $150 and sentenced each to 90 days of court supervision.

"I hoped to bring attention to the right all Americans have to peacefully express their opinion in the form of civil disobedience,'' Raitt said. "We exercised our right in a peaceful way.''

Boise Cascade officials declined to comment on the court action but said the environmental group was distorting the company's record on logging old-growth timber. Less than 3 percent of the wood the company processes comes from old-growth forests, company spokesman Mike Moser said.