Overview
- The Federal Bureau of Prisons said the former CIA officer died Monday at a Maryland federal facility, with no immediate cause released pending autopsy.
- Ames had been serving life without parole since pleading guilty in 1994 to spying for the USSR and Russia from 1985 to 1994 for about $2.5 million.
- U.S. authorities credit his disclosures with compromising numerous operations and leading to the execution of at least a dozen double agents.
- The FBI arrested him on February 21, 1994 outside his Arlington, Virginia home; his wife, Rosario, pleaded guilty and received a 63-month sentence.
- Investigators zeroed in on him after conspicuous wealth raised alarms, and the case spurred CIA turmoil in the 1990s, including Director James Woolsey’s departure and reforms under John Deutch.