CIA Traitor Aldrich Ames Dies in Prison at 84

Aldrich Ames, the CIA officer whose treason crippled American intelligence, has died. He was 84. Ames died while serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Maryland. He was convicted in 1994 for spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia. His actions caused one of the worst security breaches in U.S. history. As a counterintelligence officer, Ames identified and sold the names of dozens of Western intelligence sources to the KGB, the Soviet spy agency. At least ten of those sources were executed. Dozens more were imprisoned. Ames betrayed his country for money. He received over $4 million from his handlers, funding a lavish lifestyle that ultimately raised suspicions. His arrest ended a nine-year spying career that began in 1985. The damage he caused took U.S. intelligence agencies decades to repair.