Soviet Era Traitor Dies in Prison

Aldrich Ames, C.I.A. Turncoat Who Helped the Soviets, Dies at 84

As chief of the counterintelligence branch of the C.I.A.’s Soviet division, he had access to some of the nation’s deepest secrets. He had been serving a life sentence since 1994.
By Tim Weiner

Aldrich Ames, the most murderous turncoat in the history of the Central Intelligence Agency, whose betrayal in working for the Soviet Union went undetected for almost a decade, died on Monday. He was 84 and had been a federal prisoner, serving life without parole, since 1994.

The death was recorded in the federal Bureau of Prisons inmate database. A spokesman said he died at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Md.

The son of an alcoholic C.I.A. officer, Mr. Ames failed upward through the agency ranks for 17 years until he attained a headquarters post of extraordinary sensitivity.

He became the chief of the counterintelligence branch of the C.I.A.’s Soviet division in September 1983. He had access to some of the nation’s deepest secrets: in particular, its clandestine liaisons with the Soviets, who worked in secret with American intelligence. These were a small cadre, barely a dozen all told, who were cultivated over the course of two decades and well-placed in Soviet government agencies and embassies around the world.

As the Cold War was cresting, Mr. Ames decided that he would change the course of history by upending a long-running game of nations, the contest of spy versus spy. He saw it as a charade. By his own account, he was fueled by a toxic cocktail of vodka, arrogance, delusions of grandeur and naked greed.

New York Times

AMF. Justice delayed is justice denied- he should have swung from a gallows. Thanks to a Usual Suspect for the link.

Category: CIA, Russia, Usual Suspects