US soldier pleads guilty to treasonous plot, faces 40 years in prison for planning to kill Americans.

American Soldier Faces Up to 40 Years in Prison for Treasonous Plot to Kill Service Members

A shocking report reveals that a U.S. soldier is now facing the possibility of spending up to 40 years behind bars for his alleged involvement in a sinister plot to murder fellow service members abroad.

According to the Associated Press, Cole Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, recently pleaded guilty to charges of providing material support to terrorists and attempting to kill U.S. military personnel during his arraignment in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday.

Bridges, a native of Stow, Ohio, has been in confinement since his arrest in January 2021.

At the time of his apprehension, Bridges was serving as a Private in the Third Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia, where he had joined as a cavalry scout in September 2019.

Today, U.S. Army Private First Class Cole Bridges pled guilty to terrorism charges for attempting to assist ISIS to conduct deadly ambush on U.S. troops.

Read the press release: https://t.co/1mFo0aQi2e pic.twitter.com/iETmn1OyOh

— U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command (ACIC) (@Real_ArmyCI) June 14, 2023

According to court documents, Bridges, who was only 19 years old at the time, began consuming jihadist propaganda online and researching ISIS, openly expressing his support for the terrorist organization through social media posts.

In October 2020, Bridges initiated online communication with an individual he believed to be an ISIS supporter connected to fighters in the Middle East. However, unbeknownst to Bridges, this person was an FBI informant.

It is important to note that Bridges’ correspondence with the undercover FBI informant occurred prior to the disastrous Biden Afghan withdrawal, when American troops were still actively engaged in operations in the region.

As Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan cautioned in 2021, ISIS remained a significant threat to the U.S. military at that time.

During the plea hearing, Bridges admitted to attempting to provide material support to ISIS and acknowledged the wrongful nature of his actions.

“The support I provided included tactical advice, hand-drawn diagrams of potential troop maneuvers, pages from the Army Field Manual regarding troop movements and combat tactics, and a propaganda video,” Bridges confessed to Judge Lewis J. Liman.

“In providing such training and advice, I also knowingly attempted to assist the efforts of ISIS to repel and kill American soldiers engaged in official duties in the Middle East. I knew at that time that ISIS was a terrorist organization and had engaged in terrorist activity. I also knew that my conduct was wrong,” he added.

Court documents further reveal that Bridges expressed frustration with the U.S. military during his online conversations with the informant.

Sabrina Shroff, Bridges’ attorney, declined to make a statement following the conclusion of the court proceedings.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams emphasized the severity of Bridges’ actions, stating, “As he admitted in court today, Cole Bridges attempted to orchestrate a murderous ambush on his fellow soldiers in service of ISIS and its violent ideology. Bridges’s traitorous conduct was a betrayal of his comrades and his country.”

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