Aldrich Ames dies while serving life sentence for selling CIA secrets to the Soviets and Russia

BBC
BBC
15h ago
Former CIA counterintelligence officer Aldrich Ames, jailed for selling secret information to the Soviet Union and later Russia, died aged 84 while serving a life sentence without parole.
Aldrich Ames dies while serving life sentence for selling CIA secrets to the Soviets and Russia
A What happened
Aldrich Ames died aged 84 while serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland. He was jailed on 28 April 1994 after admitting he sold secret information to the Soviet Union and later Russia. He compromised more than 100 clandestine operations and divulged the identities of more than 30 agents spying for the West, leading to the deaths of at least 10 CIA intelligence assets. Ames admitted receiving about $2.5m over nine years and used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle.
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Key insights

  • 1

    Money was stated as the motive for the espionage: Ames said he sold secrets to pay debts, and FBI agent Leslie G Wiser said Ames’s motive was money.

  • 2

    The espionage was linked to deaths of intelligence assets: The disclosure of agent identities was stated to have led to the deaths of at least 10 CIA intelligence assets.

  • 3

    A plea deal reduced the sentence for Ames’s wife: Ames cooperated with authorities in exchange for a plea deal that secured a lenient sentence for Maria del Rosario Casas Dupuy.

Takeaways

Aldrich Ames died in federal prison while serving life without parole for espionage that compromised CIA operations and led to deaths of intelligence assets.

Topics

World & Politics Security & Defense Investigations Law & Public Safety Crime & Justice

Read the full article on BBC

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