Fourteen years in prison for U.S. soldier who sought to aid Islamic State

A US soldier who pleaded guilty to trying to provide information to the Islamic State group to help it attack American troops in the Middle East was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Friday.

Cole Bridges, 24, pleaded guilty in June of last year to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempting to murder US military service members.

Bridges, a private first class from Ohio, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Friday and 10 years of supervised release, the Justice Department said in a statement.

According to court documents, Bridges, who joined the army in 2019, went from consuming online jihadist propaganda to trying to provide information to aid IS, which once held swathes of Iraq and Syria.

In October 2020, Bridges began communicating with an FBI employee who was posing as an IS supporter, the Justice Department said.

"During these communications, Bridges expressed his frustration with the US military and his desire to aid IS," the department said.

Bridges provided "training and guidance" to purported IS fighters, including advice about potential targets in New York City, it said, and information on "how to attack US forces in the Middle East."

In January 2021, Bridges, who was based at Fort Stewart in Georgia, sent a video to the covert FBI employee of himself in body armor standing in front of a flag used by IS fighters.