Aldrich Ames (spy)
CIA officer Aldrich Ames spied for the Soviet Union for nine years, compromising more than 100 intelligence operations. At least 10 agents he betrayed were executed. He is serving life in prison.
On February 21, 1994, CIA counterintelligence officer Aldrich Ames was arrested at his home in Arlington, Virginia for spying for the Soviet Union and Russia since 1985.
Ames had been paid $2.7 million by the KGB, making him the highest-paid spy in history at the time. He used the money to buy a $540,000 house and a Jaguar—purchases that should have raised red flags.
His betrayals led to the exposure and execution of at least 10 CIA sources within the Soviet Union, including Dmitri Polyakov, considered one of the most valuable U.S. intelligence assets of the Cold War.
Ames pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life without parole. His case, along with Robert Hanssen's, led to major reforms in how intelligence agencies monitor their own personnel.
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