Aldrich Ames, Notorious CIA Double Agent, Passes Away at 84

Thu Jan 08 2026 22:04:00 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Aldrich Ames, a CIA agent infamous for betraying American intelligence by selling secrets to the Soviets, has died in prison at the age of 84.

Aldrich Ames, who served as a counterintelligence officer for the CIA, passed away while serving a life sentence. His actions, which included compromising over 100 operations and resulting in the deaths of several American agents, marked him as one of the most damaging double agents in U.S. history. Ames began his betrayal in 1985, resulting in a lavish lifestyle funded by the Soviet Union before being arrested and sentenced in 1994.

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, the BBC's media partner in the US, 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 divulged the identities of more than 30 agents spying for the West - leading to the deaths of at least 10 CIA intelligence assets.

Seeking money to pay debts, Ames began providing the KGB with the names of CIA spies in April 1985, receiving an initial payment of $50,000.

Known to the KGB by his code name, Kolokol (The Bell), Ames identified virtually all of the CIA's spies in the Soviet Union, for which he was well rewarded. He stated, To my enduring surprise, the KGB replied that it had set aside for me $2 million in gratitude for the information.

Over the course of nine years, Ames admitted receiving a total of about $2.5 million from the Soviet Union for his betrayal.

The cash fueled a lavish lifestyle, with Ames splurging on a new Jaguar car and a $540,000 house, despite never having a salary of more than $70,000 a year.

Ames's 31-year career at the CIA began when his father helped him land a job there in 1962.

He married his first wife, fellow CIA agent Nancy Segebarth, before being sent to Turkey as a counterintelligence officer to recruit foreign agents.

His problems with alcohol and marital issues emerged, later escalating his debts that pushed him toward espionage.

Ames' treachery began when he gave the Soviets the names of several KGB officers secretly working for the FBI for money.

His espionage continued until his arrest in February 1994, following a mole hunt. Ames cooperated with authorities, securing a lenient deal for his second wife, who admitted knowledge of his treachery.

CIA director R. James Woolsey described Ames as a malignant betrayer of his country, emphasizing the serious consequences of his actions which led to loss of lives among CIA agents.