Two suspects in a nationally televised wildlife poaching case in Colusa County recently pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges. A related case of witness intimidation remains under investigation.

The case reached a national audience on the National Geographic television series "Wild Justice," which profiles the work of California Fish and Game wardens. The Jan. 26 episode featured the program's most gruesome poaching case yet.

It also marks a low point for wildlife abuse cases in rural Colusa County.

"This is the worst one I've had," John Poyner, the county's district attorney for 26 years, said when asked about the severity of the case.

The episode showed wardens pursuing a trail of grisly animal remains to an informant who has prior hunting violations of his own. On camera, the informant is pressured to give up names. His identity is not obscured.

National Geographic ran a teaser for the episode using some of that footage four days before the episode appeared.

Hours later, several men beat the informant across the knees with a 2-by-4 board while he was walking down a street near his home in Willows.

The day the episode aired, the informant received intimidating phone calls. The next morning, his truck was set on fire in front of his apartment.

The Willows Police Department is still investigating that incident and has yet to arrest anyone in connection to it.

Game wardens, however, eventually arrested two suspects in the original poaching investigation, Tucker Michael Otterson, 22, of Stonyford, and Brooke Ashley Boyes, 26, of Chico. They appeared in Colusa Superior Court on May 11 on a variety of charges related to wildlife poaching.

Otterson entered not guilty pleas to five felony and seven misdemeanor charges.

The charges against Otterson relate to animal cruelty and illegal hunting allegations involving elk, pig, bear, turtle and badger. The events allegedly occurred on multiple dates, mostly between August and October 2010.

If convicted on all charges, Otterson would face a maximum sentence of five years and eight months in jail, said Matthew Carr, the Colusa County deputy district attorney prosecuting the case.

Woodland attorney Steven Sabbadini, who is representing Otterson, declined to comment.

Boyes, who is described as Otterson's girlfriend, pleaded not guilty to one felony and three misdemeanors, all related to allegedly killing an elk illegally in October.

If convicted on all charges, Boyes would face a maximum of three years in jail, Carr said.

"These environmental cases are often intense to prosecute," Carr said. "Not only because the laws can be quite complex and the facts can be very involved, but also the remedies and follow-through are complicated."

A preliminary hearing in the case is set for July 18.

The incident of witness intimidation was the only controversy to emerge from the first season of "Wild Justice" programs, in which cameras follow game wardens as they pursue gun-toting criminals in remote areas of the state.

It was the most successful debut of a new TV series in the National Geographic Channel's history. A second season is being filmed.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Matt Weiser, (916) 321-1264. Follow him on Twitter @matt_weiser.

• Read more articles by Matt Weiser