US soldier sentenced to 14 years in prison for ISIS ambush plot after asking for maximum sentence

A US Army soldier has been sentenced to 14 years in prison having pleaded guilty to attempting to assist the Islamic State terror group on how to ambush his fellow soldiers in the Middle East during conversations in which he believed he was speaking with a terrorist.Cole Bridges, 24, of Stow, Ohio, was handed down the sentence after a nearly five-hour Manhattan federal court proceeding in which he surprisingly requested he be given 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 told Judge Lewis J.Liman.

“I know what I did was wrong,” he said, adding he would carry “regret for as long as I live.”Liman cited numerous facts that he said demonstrated 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 in Fort Stewart, Georgia, as a cavalry scout at the time of the crime, the Justice Department said.He joined the Army in September 2019.According to court documents, about a year before he joined the Army, Bridges began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting jihadists and their violent ideology, and began to express his support for ISIS and jihad on social media.About a year into his service, Bridges began communicating with an FBI online covert employee (OCE), who was posing as an ISIS supporter in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East.During these communications, Bridges expressed his frustration with the US military and his desire to aid ISIS, per the court documents. Bridges provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City.He also provided the OCE with portions of a US Army training manual and guidance about military combat tactics, with the understanding that the materials would b...