Afghanistan Times
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KABUL – In a major legal development, a U.S. Army soldier, Cole Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for attempting to assist the Islamic State (ISIS) in planning attacks on fellow American troops, the Department of Justice announced. Bridges, 24, will also face 10 years of supervised release after completing his prison term.
Bridges, a former private first class, was arrested in 2021 after allegedly offering military advice to individuals he believed were connected to ISIS. He pleaded guilty in June 2023 to terrorism charges, including attempting to provide material support to ISIS and attempting to murder U.S. military personnel.
According to prosecutors, Bridges had a “troubling affinity” for ISIS, sharing extremist views online even before his Army enlistment in 2019. Authorities said he provided sensitive military information to further ISIS’s agenda, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel S. Adelsberg calling him a “traitor” who “attempted to murder American soldiers.”
