ALDRICH HAZEN AMES | American official of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who was entrusted with discovering Soviet spies and who himself became one of the most successful double agents for the Soviet Union and Russia | ALS

Aldrich Ames. Autographed Letter, Signed. Handwritten, Commercial #10 (4.125 × 9.5 envelope). Indianapolis, IN. May 25, 2016. Content unknown. SEALED.

Aldrich Hazen Ames, was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) case officer, who spoke Russian and specialized in the former Soviet Union’s and then Russian intelligence services (RIS) to include the former KGB (now SVR), which was the USSR’s foreign intelligence service. His initial overseas assignment was in Ankara, Turkey, where he targeted Russian intelligence officers for recruitment. Later, he worked in New York City and Mexico City, Mexico.

On April 16, 1985, while assigned to the CIA’s Soviet/Eastern European Division at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, Ames volunteered to spy in behalf for the USSR while meeting with KGB officers at the USSR Embassy, in Washington, D.C. Shortly thereafter, the KGB paid him $50,000. During the summer of 1985, he met several times with a Soviet diplomat and passed them classified information about CIA and FBI human sources as well as technical operations targeting the Soviet Union. In December 1985, he met with a Moscow-based KGB officer in Bogota, Colombia. In July 1986, Ames was transferred to Rome, Italy, where he continued his activities. The KGB wrote to him that he had been paid $1.88 million by them in the four years since he volunteered. Upon his return to Washington, D.C. in 1989, Ames continued to pass classified documents to the KGB, using “dead drops” or prearranged hiding places where he would leave the documents to be picked up later by KGB officers from the USSR Embassy in Washington, D.C. In return, the KGB left money and instructions for Ames, usually in other “dead drops.”

The FBI opened an investigation in May 1993. At that time, the Soviet Union had already dissolved, and the KGB was dismantled and replaced by the Russian SVR intelligence service. FBI Special Agents and investigative specialists conducted intensive physical and electronic surveillance of Ames during a 10-month investigation. Searches of his residence revealed documents and other information linking him to the Russian intelligence service. On October 13, 1993, investigative specialists observed a chalk mark Ames made on a mailbox confirming to the Russians his intention to meet them in Bogota. On November 1st, U.S. agents observed him and, separately, his Russian handlers in Bogota.

When he planned foreign travel, including a trip to Moscow, as part of his official duties, a plan to arrest him was approved. Ames was arrested by the FBI in Arlington, Virginia, on espionage charges on February 21, 1994. At the time of his arrest, Ames was a 31-year veteran of the CIA, who had been spying for the Russians since 1985. Arrested with him was his wife, Rosario Ames, who had aided and abetted his espionage activities. Ames received a life sentence without the possibility of parole, and Rosario was sentenced to 63 months in prison on October 20, 1994. The FBI debriefed him, at which time he detailed compromising identities of CIA and FBI human sources, some of whom were executed by Soviet authorities. Pursuant to his plea agreement, he forfeited his assets to the United States, and $547,000 was turned over to the DOJ’s Victims Assistance Program. Rosario has since been released from prison.

• VIDEO: The CIA Mole Who Brought US Intelligence to its Knees – True Life Spy Stories | https://youtu.be/9UG8Ulwgc9E

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