Aldrich Ames, CIA agent who spied for Soviet Union and Russia, dies aged 84 | CIA

Aldrich Ames, the CIA agent who spied for the Soviet Union and Russia in one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in U.S. history, has died in a Maryland prison. He was 84 years old.

His death was confirmed by the Bureau of Prisons on Monday.

Ames admitted that he had been passing information, including the identities of Western agents behind the Iron Curtain, to Moscow for nearly a decade.

He was arrested in February 1994 and pleaded guilty without trial to espionage and tax evasion.

In a prison interview with the Washington Post the day before his sentencing, Ames said his motivation for spying was “immediate and ongoing financial problems.”

Ames admitted to receiving $2.5 million from Moscow.