A U.S. Army soldier has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to trying to aid the Islamic State group and teaching him how to ambush fellow soldiers in the Middle East during what appeared to be a conversation with a terrorist. Ta.
Cole Bridges, 24, of Stowe, Ohio, was surprisingly sentenced to up to 40 years in prison after a nearly five-hour hearing in Manhattan federal court.
Bridges pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in June 2023.
“Honestly, I believe he deserves capital punishment,” Bridges told Judge Lewis J. Lehman. “I know what I did was wrong,” he said, adding that he would have “regrets for as long as I live.”
Liman cited a number of facts proving Bridges is “not an avid criminal” and said he has never had any actual contact with the Islamic State group.
Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzalez, was a cavalry scout assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia, at the time of the crime, according to the Justice Department. He enlisted in the Army in September 2019.
About a year before joining the Army, Bridges began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting jihadists and their violent ideology, and expressed support for ISIS and jihad on social media, according to court documents. I started.
About a year into his job, Bridges began communicating with an FBI online covert employee (OCE) who was posing as an ISIS supporter who was in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East.
During these exchanges, Bridges expressed dissatisfaction with the U.S. military and a desire to support ISIS, according to court documents.
Bridges provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice on potential targets in New York City.
He also provided OCE with portions of U.S. military training manuals and guidance on military combat tactics, with the understanding that ISIS would use them to plan future attacks.
Mr. Bridges also includes a diagram of military exercises in support of ISIS fighters to maximize the lethality of future U.S. military strikes against purported ISIS fighters and attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East. Began providing instructions to OCE on how to do so.
He also advised on the best ways to fortify ISIS camps to ambush U.S. special forces, including wiring explosives to certain buildings to kill U.S. troops.
In January 2021, Bridges provided OCE with a video of himself wearing a U.S. military bulletproof vest, standing in front of a flag commonly used by ISIS fighters and making gestures symbolic of support for ISIS.
About a week later, Bridges sent a second propaganda video narrated using a voice-manipulated device in support of an anticipated ISIS ambush on U.S. troops.
Judge Lehman said the 14-year sentence would serve as a deterrent to other military personnel who may wish to attack the military.
He said Bridges has “showed signs of remorse” since his arrest, expressing relief that he was dealing with the FBI and not terrorists.
Bridges also did not solicit material from other soldiers that could be useful to the Islamic State group, the judge added.
He said the “most chilling evidence” was that Bridges tried to offer advice to undercover agents about how terrorist organizations could minimize casualties from attacks.
Bridges’ lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, said Friday that Bridges had already served time in prison, accusing him of being lured into the plot by undercover U.S. agents posing as supporters of the Islamic State group. He asked for a four-year prison sentence and argued for a lenient punishment.
She said Bridges was a vulnerable target who was looking for a sense of community after being isolated from his family and suffering from depression.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
