Aldrich Ames, CIA officer who spied for Soviets, dies in prison at 84

Aldrich Ames, a former CIA officer whose spying for the Soviet Union and Russia led to one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in US history, died in a federal prison in Maryland at 84, according to The Guardian.

The Bureau of Prisons confirmed Ames died Monday.

Ames and his wife, Rosario, were arrested in 1994. He pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. His wife pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting his activities and was sentenced to a little more than five years.

Ames provided Moscow with classified information for nearly a decade, acknowledging receiving $2.5 million from Russia.

In an interview from jail with The Washington Post a day before his sentencing, Ames said he turned to espionage because of "financial troubles, immediate and continuing."

Ames' case resurfaced in public attention in 2018 with the publication of Ben Macintyre's book The Spy and the Traitor.