A US Army soldier was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempting to assist the Islamic State terror group in planning ambushes against his fellow soldiers in the Middle East during talks in which he believed he was communicating with a terrorist.
Cole Bridges, 24, of Stow, Ohio, received his sentence following a nearly five-hour Manhattan federal court hearing in which he unexpectedly asked a maximum 40-year sentence. Bridges pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in June 2023.
“Honestly, I do believe that I deserve the maximum sentence,” Bridges said to Judge Lewis J. Liman. “I know what I did was wrong,” he added, adding that he would feel “regret for as long as I live.”
Liman presented various information that he claimed indicated Bridges was “not a hardened criminal” and that he had no actual communications with the Islamic State organization.
Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, was a cavalry scout posted to the Third Infantry Division in Fort Stewart, Georgia, when the crime occurred, according to the Justice Department. He joined the Army in September 2019.
According to court filings, about a year before joining the Army, Bridges began researching and ingesting internet material advocating jihadists and their violent worldview, as well as expressing support for ISIS and jihad on social media.
About a year into his service, Bridges began interacting with an FBI online covert employee (OCE) who pretended to be an ISIS supporter in communication with ISIS fighters in the Middle East. According to court records, Bridges indicated displeasure with the US military as well as a desire to assist ISIS throughout these chats.
Bridges gave instruction and assistance to alleged ISIS fighters plotting attacks, including information on potential targets in New York City. He also gave the OCE excerpts from a US Army training manual and advice on military combat techniques, with the idea that ISIS would employ the materials in future assault preparation.
Bridges also began providing the OCE with instructions for claimed ISIS soldiers on how to attack US forces in the Middle East, including diagrams of tactical exercises designed to help ISIS terrorists maximize the lethality of future attacks on American troops.
He also advised on how to effectively reinforce an ISIS encampment to ambush US Special Forces, such as wiring certain structures with explosives to murder US forces.
Bridges sent the OCE a video in January 2021 of himself in his US Army body armor standing in front of a flag commonly used by ISIS members and making a gesture of support for the group.
Around a week later, Bridges delivered a second propaganda film, which he narrated using a voice manipulator, in favor of ISIS’s planned ambush on US troops.
Judge Liman stated that the 14-year sentence will prevent other members of the armed forces who may seek to assault the military. He claimed Bridges had “shown signs of remorse,” including expressing relief after his arrest that he was dealing with the FBI rather than terrorists.
Bridges, the judge added, had not sought any materials from other soldiers that could be valuable to the Islamic State organization. He claimed the “most chilling evidence” was Bridges’ readiness to provide the undercover agent advise on how the terrorist cell may reduce casualties in an attack.
His attorney, Sabrina Shroff, asked Friday that he be punished to the roughly four years he has already served in prison and argued for leniency since Bridges was duped into the conspiracy by undercover U.S. law enforcement officers posing as sympathizers of the Islamic State organization.
She described Bridges as a susceptible target who was looking for a feeling of community after becoming estranged from his family and suffering from despair.
Original Article Source: Army soldier sentenced to 14 years for ISIS plot to kill US forces, after requesting he serve 40 years
