Robert Hanssen, convicted of spying on U.S. for Moscow, dies in prison

Convicted spy and ex-FBI agent Robert Hanssen found dead in prison - The Washington Post

The former FBI agent was sentenced to life in prison for espionage in 2002. His actions were so damaging that two decades later the FBI has a webpage explaining what Hanssen did and how they uncovered his ruse.

Hanssen was arrested Feb. 18, 2001, for spying on behalf of Russia and the former Soviet Union, according to the FBI. He used the alias “Ramon Garcia” with his Russian handlers, with whom he exchanged highly classified national security information for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.

“The information he delivered compromised numerous human sources, counterintelligence techniques, investigations, dozens of classified U.S. government documents, and technical operations of extraordinary importance and value,” the FBI said.

The FBI wrote that his espionage activities began in 1985, about nine years after he took his oath with the bureau.

The federal government established the Commission for the Review of FBI Security Programs in the wake of the scandal. In its review of security programs published in March 2002, the commission described Hanssen’s espionage as “possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history.”

This is a developing story.