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On this Day: Aldrich Ames Sentenced for Role as Double Agent

April 28, 2008 12:10 AM
by findingDulcinea Staff
On April 28, 1994, CIA counterintelligence analyst Aldrich Ames was sentenced to life in prison for providing the KGB with confidential information.
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During his trial, Ames admitted to the court that he sold confidential information to the Soviet Union and later Russia from April 1985 until his arrest in February 1994.

Ames was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole by a court in Arlington, Va. According to the BBC, Ames was the “highest-ranking CIA official ever to be exposed as a double agent.”

Because of his treason, “the CIA lost almost all its agents in the Soviet Union,” according to Time magazine. At least 10 agents were executed by the KGB due to information Ames provided.

Ames worked for the CIA for 31 years, carrying out “clandestine operations across the globe,” according to an assessment of the case published by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

The Senate committee also harshly criticized the CIA for failing to notice Ames’ subversion, despite obvious signs of criminal involvement. According to its report, Ames used the $2 million he was paid by the KGB to “purchase a new Jaguar … and a $540,000 home with cash … Apparently, these seemingly large expenditures by an employee making less than $70,000 a year had not raised questions at the CIA.”

In addition, many wondered why Ames’ performance was never called into question. A subsequent investigation by the agency’s inspector general showed that Ames struggled professionally. Not only did he suffer from alcoholism, he slept on the job, failed to turn in reports and breeched CIA security regulations.

The FBI arrested Ames at his home in Arlington, Va., on Feb. 24, 1994.

Headline Link: ‘A Decade as a Turncoat: Aldrich Ames' Own Story’

Background: Ames and the KGB

Key Player: Aldrich Ames, an agent disillusioned

Analysis: The CIA faces criticism

Related Link: Victims of treason

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