Double agent who spied for Russia dies

Thao Nguyen

USA TODAY

Aldrich Ames, a former counterintelligence officer for the CIA who gained notoriety as a double agent for the Soviet Union and later Russia, has died. He was 84.

Ames, who was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland, died on Jan. 5, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to USA TODAY. The agency’s inmate database did not list a cause or location of death.

As a double agent, the FBI said Ames had compromised intelligence operations by leaking classified documents and the identities of CIA and FBI sources. Soviet authorities eventually executed some of those sources.

In February 1994, Ames was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of espionage. He later pleaded guilty to spying for Moscow and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

At the time of his arrest, the FBI said Ames was a 31-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency who was believed to have been spying for the Soviet Union and Russia since 1985. Federal authorities also accused Ames’ wife, Rosario Ames, of aiding in his espionage activities.

Ames’ espionage activities made him one of the highest-paid spies in history, according to the Center for Development of Security Excellence. He received a total of $4.6million for his spying.

His case drew widespread scrutiny over the vulnerabilities within the CIA and shook confidence in federal agencies.

Born in River Falls, Wisconsin, in 1941, Ames was the son of an CIA officer. He later became a CIA case officer who specialized in Russian intelligence services, according to the FBI.

During his career, Ames worked in New York City and other countries including Turkey, Mexico, and Italy. He was assigned to the CIA’s Soviet/East European Division in 1985, where he 'secretly volunteered to KGB officers at the USSR Embassy, Washington, D.C.,' the FBI said.

The Center for Development of Security Excellence said Ames had been heavily in debt when he began selling classified information to the Soviet government.

'The information he provided led to the compromise of at least 100 U.S. intelligence operations and the execution of at least 10 U.S. sources,' according to the center. 'He ultimately gave the Soviet government the names of every American agent working in its country.'

The CIA and FBI were tipped off when they learned that agents were 'disappearing at an alarming rate,' according to the Center for Development of Security Excellence. The FBI said it learned that Russian officials recruited by the United States were being arrested and executed.

'These human sources had provided critical intelligence information about the USSR, which was used by U.S. policy makers in determining U.S. foreign policy,' the FBI said.

The FBI opened an investigation in May 1993 after reviewing information on 'Ames’s unexplained wealth,' according to the agency.