PRESENTATION OUTLINE
BACKGROUND
- Born May 26, 1941 (age 75)
- Born in River Falls, Wisconsin.
Ames was a member of the CIA and often assisted another CIA office that assessed Soviet embassy officials as potential intelligence assets. Ames began making contacts with the Soviets.
In April 1985 Ames gave the Soviets information in exchange for $50,000. Ames said that he only did this to pay off debt but couldn't stop after he had done it once.
Ames soon identified more than 10 top-level CIA and FBI sources that were reporting on Soviet activity.
Ames believed that there was more money than he could ever use in giving away information and the more he gave away the less likely he would be found out.
By 1985 the CIA's network of Soviet-bloc agents began disappearing at an alarming rate.
The CIA blamed asset losses on another agent Edward Lee Howard who was also passing information to the Soviets.
But when the CIA lost 3 important sources of information that Howard couldn't have known about they knew that the arrests/executions originated from a different source.
In August 1985, Ames got divorced and quickly married a Colombian woman. He knew that his wealth would be suspicious so he said that his new wife's family were wealthy.
He even gave money to his new wife's family to better their status.
In 1986 the a Soviet agent told a CIA agent that the man giving away information was in Warrenton Training Centre to throw off the CIA from Ames.
The CIA grew suspicious of Ames because he was buying things that he shouldn't have been able to afford on his salary.
On February 21 1994 Ames and his wife were arrested and charged with spying for the Soviets.
On April 28 he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment while his wife received 5 years for tax evasion.
