Aldrich Ames: The Notorious CIA Double Agent Passes Away at 84

Thu Jan 08 2026 21:50:14 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Aldrich Ames, the CIA officer who sold classified national secrets to the Soviets, has died at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence. His actions led to the exposure of numerous intelligence operations and deaths of CIA agents.

Aldrich Ames, a former CIA counterintelligence officer, died at the Federal Correctional Institution in Maryland at age 84. He was imprisoned for life after admitting to leaking critical intelligence to the Soviet Union, compromising numerous operations and resulting in the deaths of agents. Ames's espionage career, driven by financial troubles, led him to betray the very country he served for over three decades. His legacy as one of America's most damaging double agents remains a cautionary tale in intelligence history.

Aldrich Ames: The Notorious CIA Double Agent Passes Away at 84

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 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), he went on to identify virtually all of the CIA's spies in the Soviet Union. Over nine years, Ames admitted receiving a total of about $2.5 million from the Soviet Union for his betrayal.

His lavish lifestyle, fueled by this cash, included a new Jaguar car, foreign holidays, 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 with his father's assistance in landing the job after dropping out of college in 1962. His marriage to fellow CIA agent Nancy Segebarth in 1969 eventually ended as his personal issues escalated, including alcohol problems and debts. His second marriage to Maria del Rosario Casas Dupuy, a CIA asset and cultural attaché, would later lead to charges against her as his accomplice.

Despite previous security violations, Ames continued to rise within the CIA, ultimately heading the Soviet counterintelligence department. His downfall began with a mole hunt that led to his arrest in 1994.

The CIA’s then-director R. James Woolsey described Ames as a malignant betrayer of his country, stating that his actions resulted in the deaths of agents because a murdering traitor wanted a bigger house and a Jaguar.