Aldrich Ames, a CIA officer who became one of America's most damaging double agents, has died aged 84. The former counterintelligence officer, who was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole, died on Monday at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland, CBS News reported.
Ames was jailed on 28 April 1994 after he admitted to selling secret information to the Soviet Union and later Russia. He compromised more than 100 clandestine operations and revealed the identities of over 30 agents spying for the West, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 CIA intelligence assets.
Seeking money to settle debts, Ames began providing the KGB with names of CIA spies in April 1985, receiving an initial payment of $50,000. Known by his code name 'Kolokol' (The Bell), Ames subsequently identified virtually all of the CIA's spies in the Soviet Union, earning substantial rewards for his betrayal.
Ames received approximately $2.5 million from the Soviets over the course of nine years. The funds financed his extravagant lifestyle, which included purchasing a Jaguar and a $540,000 house, despite his official salary never exceeding $70,000 a year.
His 31-year career at the CIA began with assistance from his father, a CIA analyst, following his college dropout in 1962. Ames's personal life challenged his professional integrity, which unraveled due to alcoholism and debts stemming from supporting two families. His espionage activities ultimately led to his arrest on February 21, 1994, during a mole hunt initiated by the agency.
The CIA director at the time, R. James Woolsey, characterized Ames as a malignant betrayer of his country, highlighting the severe consequences of his betrayal on U.S. intelligence operations.
