Aldrich Ames is a former CIA officer who was arrested in 1994 for espionage. He was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia, compromising numerous intelligence operations and leading to the exposure of several American agents. Ames began his espionage activities in the late 1980s, motivated by financial difficulties and personal issues. His actions resulted in significant damage to U.S. intelligence efforts, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His case remains one of the most damaging in the history of American intelligence.