Aldrich Ames, Notorious Double Agent, Passes Away at 84

Fri Jan 09 2026 11:00:36 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Aldrich Ames, the CIA officer who betrayed his country and sold secrets to the Soviet Union, has died in prison. His treachery led to major operational losses for the CIA and the deaths of numerous agents.

Aldrich Ames, a former CIA counterintelligence officer infamous for selling sensitive information to the Soviet Union, has died at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence in prison. His actions compromised over 100 CIA operations and caused the deaths of at least ten agents. Ames began his espionage activities in 1985 and was arrested in 1994, leaving a legacy as one of the most damaging American spies in history.

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 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 said he 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 went on to identify virtually all of the CIA's spies in the Soviet Union, for which he was well rewarded.

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

Ames's 31-year career at the CIA began in 1962 when his father, an analyst at the agency, helped him secure a job after he dropped out of college.

He married his first wife, CIA agent Nancy Segebarth, in 1969. Following various personal struggles, including alcohol issues and escalating debts, Ames's betrayal of his country unfurled, marking a dark chapter in Cold War espionage history.