Former CIA agent Aldrich Ames leaves federal courtroom after pleading responsible to espionage and tax evasion conspiracy prices April 28, 1994, in Alexandria, Va.
Wilfredo Lee/AP
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Wilfredo Lee/AP
WASHINGTON — CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames, who betrayed Western intelligence belongings to the Soviet Union and Russia in one of the damaging intelligence breaches in U.S. historical past, has died in a Maryland jail. He was 84.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons confirmed Ames died Monday.
Ames, a 31-year CIA veteran, admitted being paid $2.5 million by Moscow for U.S. secrets and techniques from 1985 till his arrest in 1994. His disclosures included the identities of 10 Russian officers and one Jap European who have been spying for the USA or Nice Britain, together with spy satellite tv for pc operations, eavesdropping and basic spy procedures. His betrayals are blamed for the executions of Western brokers working behind the Iron Curtain and have been a serious setback to the CIA throughout the Chilly Struggle.
He pleaded responsible with no trial to espionage and tax evasion and was sentenced to life in jail with out parole. Prosecutors stated he disadvantaged the USA of priceless intelligence materials for years.
He professed “profound disgrace and guilt” for “this betrayal of belief, achieved for the basest motives,” cash to pay money owed. However he downplayed the harm he brought on, telling the courtroom he didn’t consider he had “noticeably broken” the USA or “noticeably aided” Moscow.
“These spy wars are a sideshow which have had no actual influence on our important safety pursuits over time,” he instructed the courtroom, questioning the worth that leaders of any nation derived from huge networks of human spies across the globe.
In a jailhouse interview with The Washington Publish the day earlier than he was sentenced, Ames stated he was motivated to spy by “monetary troubles, quick and persevering with.”
Ames was working within the Soviet/Jap European division on the CIA’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia, when he first approached the KGB, in line with an FBI historical past of the case. He continued passing secrets and techniques to the Soviets whereas stationed in Rome for the CIA and after returning to Washington. In the meantime, the U.S. intelligence neighborhood was frantically making an attempt to determine why so many brokers have been getting found by Moscow.
Ames’s spying coincided with that of FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who was caught in 2001 and charged with taking $1.4 million in money and diamonds to promote secrets and techniques to Moscow. He died in jail in 2023.
Ames’s spouse, Rosario, pleaded responsible to lesser espionage prices of aiding his spying and was sentenced to 63 months in jail.
