By Jennifer Young
One of the most notorious double agents in modern times is serving time in a Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Indiana. Aldrich Ames was a CIA officer of 31 years before he was arrested on espionage charges in 1994 and convicted for spying for the Russian KGB. Ames, currently aged 78, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. His wife was also implicated in his crimes and served 63 months in prison before her release.
Why did this American son of a college professor / CIA officer and English teacher play turncoat? A pile of debts suggests it was all about the money.
Ames was born in River Falls, Wisconsin, which is located near the state border with Minnesota. His father took a job with the CIA when Ames was a teen, and he, himself, found work with the agency during summers where he performed clerical work and low-ranking records analysis. Ames entered the University of Chicago to study foreign cultures, but he was dispassionate and his failing grades forced him to drop out. He returned East and took a full-time job with the CIA, performing much the same work as previously.
