Former CIA agent Aldrich Hazen Ames, seen here in his Feb. 21, 1994, mugshot, died Monday while serving a life sentence for spying on the United States for Russian. Photo courtesy of FBI/Website
Aldrich Ames, a former CIA agent who spied for the Soviet Union and then Russia, died in prison, according to prison records. He was 84 years old.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate records for Ames state he died Monday.
“For safety, security and privacy reasons, our office does not share specifics regarding the cause of death for any individuals,” the bureau said in a statement to ABC News. “The Official cause of death is determined by the medical examiner and not the Bureau of Prisons.”
Ames pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion charges in an eastern district of Virginia courtroom on April 24, 1994, and was given life in prison as part of the plea deal for violating the Espionage Act.
He was arrested that February, along with his wife, Maria Rosario Ames, on charges that they had spied for the Soviet Union and then Russia since 1985, in exchange for $2.5 million.
Ames — who was 52 when arrested and a 31-year veteran of the CIA — had told the courts that he became a spy for Moscow to earn money to pay down his debts.
According to the FBI, Ames began working with the KGB on April 16, 1985, while he was assigned to the CIA’s Soviet/East European Division.
That summer he repeatedly met with a Russian diplomat, who he gave classified information about CIA and FBI human sources, the FBI said.
He continued to spy for Russia while stationed in Italy and again from Washington, D.C., on his return there in 1989.
The FBI states that it and the CIA during this time learned that Russian officials who had been recruited by the U.S. intelligence services were being arrested and executed. It is believed that Ames’ actions resulted in the deaths of at least 10 Soviet and Russian agents who were spying for the United States as well as compromising dozens of operations.
Rosario Ames, a Colombian national, was sentenced to 63 months in prison in October of 1994 on lesser charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s crimes.
During his sentencing, Ames railed against the government for the charges applied against his wife, arguing that she was only aware of his espionage activities for 18 months when he had been working with Moscow for nine years.
He said she was “frightened nearly to death” when she learned of his spying and “pleaded with me to break off with the Russians.”
“My wife is being punished far beyond her real culpability,” he said, arguing the government were targeting her to punish him.
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