Cole Bridges, a 24-year-old from Stow, Ohio, has been sentenced to 168 months (14 years) in prison for attempting to provide material support to ISIS and plotting to kill U.S. service members.
Bridges, who also used the name Cole Gonzales, pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in June 2023.
Bridges, a former U.S. Army cavalry scout stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia, began consuming online jihadist propaganda and expressing support for ISIS as early as 2019. In 2020, he connected with an undercover FBI employee posing as an ISIS supporter.
Bridges shared military tactics, training manuals, and advice on attacking U.S. forces, including a plan to ambush and kill Special Forces soldiers in the Middle East. He even sent videos of himself in U.S. Army body armor, voicing support for ISIS.
This case was investigated by multiple FBI field offices, with support from U.S. Army Counterintelligence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, and other agencies.
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