WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?: Feds make plea deal with man accused of CHILD ENTICEMENT, obstructing COP MURDER investigation

A Bay Area man who was charged with engaging in sexual chats with teens for years while authorities were investigating him for his involvement with a violent anti-government militia has tentatively agreed to a plea deal, court records show.

Robert Jesus Blancas, 34, will plead guilty to federal offenses as part of a “global resolution” in both criminal cases against him, attorneys wrote in court records last week. The details have not been made public, but Blancas faces a 10-year minimum and maximum of life if he pleads to the child enticement charge. “The government and Blancas have reached a proposed resolution in both cases. The resolution contemplates a single plea agreement addressing both matters,” says the statement, signed by prosecutors and defense attorneys.

Blancas, a Castro Valley resident, was part of the Boogaloo-linked militia known as the Grizzly Scouts, whose members included Steven Carrillo, the U.S. Air Force sergeant accused of assassinating two law enforcement officials last year in separate shootings one week apart.

Carrillo faces federal charges of murdering Federal Protective Services contract Ofc. Pat Underwood at a federal building in Oakland and state charges of murdering Santa Cruz Sheriff Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller in an ambush at Carrillo’s Ben Lomond home. In the aftermath of Carrillo’s arrest, federal authorities have targeted his associates in the Boogaloo movement, including a West Virginia man accused of selling him an illegal machine gun modifier and a Texas resident accused of shooting up a Minneapolis police precinct around the same time as Underwood’s killing.

Blancas was arrested as part of that widespread investigation. Prosecutors have alleged that Blancas conspired with other Grizzly Scouts members, including the group’s founder, to destroy records that were relevant to the Carrillo investigation. After seizing computers and cellphones belonging to Blancas, the FBI reportedly discovered he’d been chatting online with a 15-year-old girl. Of the group, Blancas is the first to tentatively accept a plea deal [East Bay Entertainment].