US soldier sentenced to 14 years in prison for attempting to support Islamic State

WASHINGTON – A U.S. Army soldier has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for trying to help Islamic State carry out a deadly ambush of U.S. troops, the Justice Department said Friday.

Cole Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, 24, will serve 10 years of supervised release after his release from prison, the department said.

Bridges, who was a private first class at the time of his arrest, was charged in 2021 with providing “military advice and guidance on killing fellow soldiers to individuals he believed were part of ISIS.”

He pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in June 2023.

Bridges joined the military in 2019.

Before joining the department, he began researching and consuming online propaganda “promoting jihadists and their violent ideology, and began expressing his support for ISIS and jihad on social media.” REUTERS