Maryland (Parliament Politics Magazine) – CIA spy Aldrich Ames, convicted of selling secrets to Moscow, died in prison at 84, having caused one of America’s worst intelligence breaches.
As reported by Sky News, a CIA insider who carried out one of the most severe intelligence scandals in American history by selling secrets to the Soviet Union and Russia has died in prison.
How did Aldrich Ames sell secrets to the Soviets and Russia?
Between 1985 and his arrest in 1994, CIA agent Aldrich Ames confessed to accepting $2.5 million (£1.85m) from Moscow while betraying Western intelligence by selling secrets to the Soviets.
The CIA turncoat’s leaks exposed the identities of 10 Russian officials and one Eastern European spying for the US and UK, and his actions have been blamed for the executions of agents operating behind the Iron Curtain.
A 31-year CIA veteran who exposed satellite operations, surveillance methods, and spy techniques later pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion without going to trial.
In 1994, Ames was sentenced to life in prison without parole, while his wife, Rosario, admitted to lesser charges and was sentenced to 63 months behind bars.
A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson confirmed that Ames died in a Maryland prison on Monday, January 5, at the age of 84.
Ames labelled his actions as a “betrayal of trust” and said he felt “profound shame and guilt.”
Speaking to The Washington Post before his sentencing, he cited “immediate and continuing” financial troubles. He insisted his actions caused no significant harm to the United States nor noticeably aided Russia.
Ames told the court,
“These spy wars are a sideshow which have had no real impact on our significant security interests over the years.”
FBI records reveal that Ames, a Russian-speaking CIA officer, was stationed in the agency’s Soviet division at Langley, Virginia, when the KGB first contacted him.
Ames maintained his espionage while working in Rome and later in Washington. In May 1993, the FBI opened a probe after being tipped off about his unexplained wealth, leading to a 10-month surveillance operation.
Leslie G. Wiser, an FBI agent involved in the probe that resulted in Ames’s arrest, said,
“It was about the money, and I don’t think he ever really tried to lead anybody to believe it was anything more than that.”
On October 13, 1993, Ames marked a mailbox with chalk to signal his Russian contacts about a meeting in Bogota, Colombia, where he was later spotted with his handler. His planned trip to Moscow then led authorities to approve his arrest.
He said,
“If he was going to make a dead drop, earlier he would place a chalk mark on a mailbox, for instance, and the Russians would see that chalk mark, and then they would know that the drop had been loaded with the documents.”
Wiser added,
“Later, when they retrieved the documents, they would go and erase the chalk mark. He would then know that the transfer of documents was done safely and securely.”
The FBI agent continued,
“I’m not aware of any other spy or mole in the US that has caused such a loss of human life in terms of human assets.”
How did Aldrich Ames become one of America’s most damaging spies?
In his position overseeing the CIA’s top counterintelligence office against the Soviet Union, Ames had limited access to US insiders. He sold their identities to the KGB, leading to the deaths of at least 10 agents and the loss of more than 100 covert operations.
He started spying to resolve personal financial pressures and support a luxury lifestyle, motivated by money rather than political ideology.
Ames accepted $2.5 million from the Soviets, which he used to buy a $540,000 house, a Jaguar, and other items well beyond his $70,000 CIA salary.
Even with a history of alcohol problems, poor work performance, and security concerns, Ames was promoted to a sensitive CIA job. His sudden wealth raised no alarms until a financial investigation led to his arrest in 1994. The ex-CIA officer died in prison in Maryland on January 5, 2026, at 84.