MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Convicted CIA mole serving life with no parole dies in jail

Ames' story reshaped internal security within the CIA

Former CIA counterintelligence officer Aldrich Ames, whose nearly decade-long betrayal of the United States stood as one of the most catastrophic security breaches in history, died in federal custody on Monday at the age of 84.

 A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed on Tuesday that Ames passed away at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland, where he was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

During his 31-year tenure at the CIA, Ames rose to become the head of the Soviet branch of the agency's counterintelligence group. However, in 1985, driven by mounting debts, he began selling secrets to the KGB.

Ames's actions led directly to the exposure, arrest, and execution of at least 10 high-level CIA and FBI assets within the Soviet Union. He also compromised more than 100 secret intelligence operations and provided the Kremlin with a virtual roadmap of American espionage efforts during the final years of the Cold War.

In exchange for his treachery, Ames and his wife, Maria del Rosario Casas Dupuy, received more than US$2.5 million from the Soviet Union and, later, the Russian Federation.

The couple's lifestyle eventually became their undoing. Despite a CIA salary of approximately US$60,000, they lived in a US$540,000 home paid for in cash, drove a luxury Jaguar, and maintained massive credit card bills, which triggered a joint CIA-FBI investigation that lasted years.

Following an intensive 10-month period of physical and electronic surveillance, the FBI arrested the couple in February 1994. Ames pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion, receiving life in prison, while his wife was sentenced to 63 months for her role in aiding and abetting his activities.

The Ames scandal profoundly reshaped the American intelligence community. The discovery that a mole had operated undetected at the highest levels for nine years led to the resignation of then-CIA Director James Woolsey and triggered a massive overhaul of the agency’s polygraph and internal security protocols. Ames had passed polygraphs while spying, resulting in a radical overhaul of the “honor system” at Langley.

Before Ames, security clearances were reviewed every five years. Today, the CIA uses automated systems to monitor. Any sudden influx of cash, large gambling debts, or unexplained luxury purchases, such as the “Jaguar Factor,” triggers an immediate response. Any unauthorized contact with foreign nationals is also a red flag.

The CIA realized Ames had been coached by the KGB on how to beat the polygraph by staying calm and using physical countermeasures. Hence, the agency introduced more sophisticated sensors and lifestyle questions to detect psychological discomfort rather than just physical spikes.

Overall, in matters of security, people at the CIA speak of the “pre-Ames” and the “post-Ames” era regarding vetting and controls.