Aldrich Ames, CIA agent who sold secrets to the Soviets, dies aged 84

Aldrich Ames, a former CIA officer who became a double agent for the Soviet Union and later Russia, died at age 84 while serving a life sentence in a Maryland prison. Ames was jailed in 1994 after admitting to selling classified information, beginning in 1985, in exchange for approximately $2.5 million. His betrayal compromised over 100 clandestine operations and exposed more than 30 agents spying for the West, leading to the deaths of at least 10. Motivated by debt, Ames provided the KGB with the identities of CIA spies, using the money to fund a lavish lifestyle. His wife, Maria del Rosario Casas Dupuy, was also charged as an accomplice. Ames's CIA career began in 1962 after his father helped him get a job there.

Aldrich Ames, a former CIA agent who spied for the Soviet Union and Russia, died at age 84 in a Maryland prison. Ames was arrested in February 1994, along with his wife Rosario, and pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole for providing Moscow with classified information for nearly a decade, including the identities of Western agents. Ames admitted he was paid $2.5 million by Russia and claimed his motivation was financial troubles. His betrayal is considered one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in US history, and he was responsible for exposing a KGB colonel working for MI6. At the time of his espionage, Ames worked in the Soviet/Eastern European division at CIA headquarters.