Aldrich Ames's Real Name: Aldrich Hazen Ames

Quick answer: He was known as Aldrich Ames, his real name. The FBI's history of the case gives his full name as Aldrich Hazen Ames, and Encyclopaedia Britannica lists the same form. Britannica says he was born on May 26, 1941, in River Falls, Wisconsin. AP and the Guardian report that he died in a Maryland federal prison on Monday, January 5, 2026, at 84.

Real name and early life

Britannica says Ames was the son of a CIA analyst. He attended the University of Chicago for two years, became a CIA trainee in 1962, and earned a B.A. from George Washington University in 1967. A Library of Congress record gives the same birth date and notes the nickname "Rick."

Career highlights

Britannica says he was posted to Ankara, Turkey, from 1969 to 1972, and later to Mexico City, where he met his second wife, Maria del Rosario Casas Dupuy. The FBI says he was a Russian-speaking case officer who specialized in Soviet intelligence services. Britannica notes the irony that he was entrusted with uncovering Soviet spies.

Espionage case and sentence

This section records only the official findings and legal outcome. The FBI says that in April 1985, while assigned to the CIA's Soviet and East European Division at headquarters in Langley, Virginia, he volunteered to the KGB. He continued during a posting to Rome from 1986 to 1989 and after returning to Washington.

The FBI opened an investigation in May 1993 after reviews and information about his unexplained wealth. He was arrested in Arlington, Virginia, on February 21, 1994, along with his wife, Rosario. AP says he admitted being paid $2.5 million by Moscow, while Britannica puts the couple's total above $2.7 million.

According to the FBI, Ames and his wife both pleaded guilty on April 28, 1994. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and she received 63 months. Under his plea agreement he forfeited his assets, and $547,000 went to the Justice Department's victims fund. AP says his disclosures are blamed for the executions of Western agents, and Britannica says at least 10 were executed. In court he professed "profound shame and guilt."

Death

AP says a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson confirmed that Ames died on Monday in a Maryland prison, and the Guardian says the bureau confirmed the death. Britannica gives January 5, 2026, at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland. AP and the Guardian did not report a cause of death.

Name notes for searchers

Aldrich Ames was his legal name; Hazen was his middle name and Rick a nickname. He is sometimes confused with FBI agent Robert Hanssen, whose separate espionage case AP notes overlapped in time with his.