Army soldier sentenced to 14 years for ISIS plot to kill US troops after asking to serve 40 years

A U.S. Army soldier has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to trying to help the Islamic State group ambush his fellow soldiers in the Middle East during conversations in which he believed he was talking to a terrorist spoke.

Cole Bridges, 24, of Stow, Ohio, was sentenced after a nearly five-hour proceeding in federal court in Manhattan, during which he surprisingly requested a prison sentence of up to 40 years. Bridges pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in June 2023.

“Frankly, I believe I deserve the maximum sentence,” Bridges told Judge Lewis J. Liman. “I know what I did was wrong,” he said, adding that he would “carry regret as long as I live.”

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Liman cited numerous facts that he said showed Bridges was “not a hardened criminal” and said he had no actual communications with the Islamic State organization.

Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, was assigned to the Third Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia, as a cavalry scout at the time of the crime, the Justice Department said. He joined the army in September 2019.

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According to court documents, Bridges began researching and consuming online propaganda about a year before joining the military promoting jihadists and their violent ideologyand began expressing his support for ISIS and jihad on social media.

About a year into his employment, Bridges began communicating with an online undercover FBI employee (OCE) posing as an ISIS supporter in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East. During these communications, Bridges expressed his frustration with the U.S. military and his desire to help ISIS, according to court documents.

Bridges provided training and guidance to suspected ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice on potential targets in New York City. He also provided the OCE with portions of a U.S. Army training manual and guidelines on military combat tactics, with the understanding that the materials would be used by ISIS in future attack planning.

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Bridges also began providing the OCE with instructions for suspected ISIS fighters on how to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East, including mapping military maneuvers designed to help ISIS fighters reduce the lethality of future maximize attacks on US forces.

He also provided advice on the best way to fortify an ISIS encampment to ambush U.S. Special Forces, including by rigging certain buildings with explosives to kill U.S. troops.

In January 2021, Bridges provided the OCE with a video of himself in his U.S. Army body armor, standing in front of a flag commonly used by ISIS fighters and making a gesture symbolic of support for ISIS.

About a week later, Bridges sent out a second propaganda video in which he talked about using a voice manipulator in support of ISIS’s expected ambush on U.S. troops.

Judge Liman said the 14-year prison sentence would deter other members of the armed forces who might want to attack the army. He said Bridges had “shown signs of remorse,” including expressing relief after his arrest that he had dealt with the FBI instead of terrorists.

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Bridges, the judge added, also had not sought material from other soldiers that could be useful to the Islamic State. He said the “most chilling evidence” was Bridges’ willingness to give the undercover officer advice on how the terrorist group could minimize casualties in an attack.

His lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, asked Friday that he be sentenced to the nearly four years he has already served behind bars and argued for leniency because Bridges was lured into the plot by undercover U.S. law enforcement officers posing as supporters of the Islamic State group .

She said Bridges was a vulnerable target looking for a sense of community after becoming isolated from his family and suffering from depression.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Original article source: Army soldier sentenced to 14 years for ISIS plot to kill US troops after asking to serve 40 years