Northeast
Army soldier sentenced to 14 years for ISIS plot to kill US forces, after requesting he serve 40 years
A U.S. 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.”
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Cole Bridges, 22, admitted to trying to help ISIS ambush his fellow U.S. soldiers in the Middle East, federal prosecutors said. (U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command)
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 U.S. 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 U.S. Army training manual and guidance about military combat tactics, with the understanding that the materials would be used by ISIS in future attack planning.
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A masked Islamic State soldier poses holding the ISIS flag in 2015. (History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Bridges also began supplying the OCE with instructions for the purported ISIS fighters on how to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East, including diagramming military maneuvers intended to help ISIS fighters maximize the lethality of future attacks on U.S. troops.
He also gave advice about the best way to fortify an ISIS encampment to ambush U.S. Special Forces, including by wiring certain buildings with explosives to kill the 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 often used by ISIS fighters and making a gesture symbolic of support for ISIS.
Around a week later, Bridges sent a second propaganda video he narrated using a voice manipulator in support of the anticipated ambush by ISIS on U.S. troops.
Judge Liman said the 14-year sentence would deter other members of the armed forces who might want to attack the military. He said Bridges had “shown signs of remorse,” including expressing relief after his arrest that he had been dealing with the FBI rather than terrorists.
Bridges provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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Bridges, the judge added, also had not sought any materials from other soldiers that might be useful to the Islamic State organization. He said the “most chilling evidence” was Bridges’ willingness to provide the undercover agent with advice on how the terrorist group could minimize casualties in an attack.
His attorney, 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 agents who posed as supporters of the Islamic State group.
She said Bridges was a vulnerable target who was seeking a sense of community after becoming isolated from his family and suffering from depression.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sam Cassell returned to the Boston Celtics and accepted an assistant position on head coach Joe Mazzulla’s staff last offseason, while ambitious and hopeful that someday an NBA team would give the 54-year-old a chance to lead a coaching staff himself.
Even after the Celtics racked up a league-leading 64 regular season wins, made easy work of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, celebrated with a two-plus-mile-long duck boat parade and spent over $500 million to keep the roster intact for a re-run, Cassell hasn’t lost sight of his primary goal. Boston already lost Charles Lee, who joined the Charlotte Hornets as their newest head coach midway through last postseason, begging the question: Could Cassell be the next to go?
“I just gotta find a general manager or president of a team to just believe in me,” Cassell told the “Come And Talk 2 Me” podcast. “Believe that I can get this done. I know I can get it done. I’m just trying to figure out, just working on myself every year as a coach trying to get better. It ain’t the Xs and Os. I think it’s just the other little things. Who knows what it is? But I’m not gonna give up until I get it. That’s how I was all my life. I still enjoy coaching the game of basketball.”
Cassell was considered to replace Darvin Ham as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, undergoing an interview with the Western Conference franchise during Boston’s semifinal playoff series with the Cleveland Cavaliers in May. Boston allowed Cassell to pursue the opportunity, however, the Lakers elected to go with J.J. Redick, a non-experienced candidate and ex-podcast partner of Los Angeles star LeBron James. But Cassell’s soon-to-be 15 years of sideline experience will keep the former All-Star guard prepared for whenever the next door opens.
Until then, Cassell is focused on Boston. The Celtics haven’t repeated as champions in over five decades and the team, poised for another favorable chance to flood the streets of Boston with confetti, fans and tears of joy, isn’t allowing Banner 18 to cloud its judgment on the journey of chasing Banner 19.
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“We trying to chase greatness,” Cassell added, per the “Come And Talk 2 Me” podcast. “We understand that we gonna get everybody’s best shot and we’re gonna do some hunting too. We want to hunt too. Our guys are preparing. I don’t really talk about the repeat thing but it’s gonna be fun for us this year. It’s gonna be hard but we got the right character guys for our team to — we’re gonna go for it. We’re gonna go for it. We’re gonna go for it.”
TORONTO (AP) — Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist, and Toronto beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Saturday in the Maple Leafs’ home opener.
William Nylander had two goals for Toronto, including an empty-netter. Matthew Knies also scored, Max Domi had two assists and Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves.
It was the home debut for Toronto coach Craig Berube, who was hired in May. The Maple Leafs split their first two games of the season on the road.
Kris Letang and Rickard Rakell scored for Pittsburgh. Joel Blomqvist stopped 29 shots in his second NHL start after picking up his first victory Thursday in Detroit. Evgeni Malkin had two assists to give him 1,300 points for his career.
Leafs center John Tavares missed the game with an illness.
Toronto, which dropped to 0 for 9 this season on the power play, improved to 9-0-0 in its last nine home openers.
TAKEAWAYS
Maple Leafs: Finally got some production from one of their stars when Nylander tied it at 1 in the second period. Nylander, Auston Matthews and Marner were all held off the scoresheet through the first two games of the season.
Penguins: They were unable to connect on three power-play chances after Letang scored in the first.
KEY MOMENT
Pittsburgh led 1-0 early in the first, but a terrible line change and turnover early in the second created a 2-on-0 rush. Domi fed Nylander for his first goal of the season.
KEY STAT
Sidney Crosby assisted on Letang’s opener to become the 10th player in NHL history to register a combined 1,800 regular-season and playoffs points.
UP NEXT
The Leafs continue a four-game homestand Wednesday against the Los Angeles Kings. The Penguins finish a three-game trip Monday against the Montreal Canadiens.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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