
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 27, 1994                   TAG: 9404270101
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CIA AGENT TO PLEAD GUILTY IN SPY CASE

Veteran CIA official Aldrich Ames and his wife, accused of spying for Moscow, have agreed to plead guilty Thursday as part of a deal with federal prosecutors, two sources familiar with the case said Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors in suburban Alexandria, Va., sought a narrow indictment of the couple Tuesday from a federal grand jury and persuaded U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton to seal it until they appear in court Thursday, according to the sources, who demanded anonymity.

Hilton, who will not be on the bench today because of the national day of mourning for former President Nixon, scheduled a hearing in the case Thursday morning.

Under the deal, Ames, 52, the highest-ranking CIA official ever accused of spying for a foreign government, would spend life in prison, the sources said, but his wife, Rosario, 41, would serve only five years so she could be freed in time to help rear their 5-year-old son, Paul.

The proposed deal calls for Aldrich Ames to plead guilty to transmitting or trying to transmit defense secrets to a foreign power with reason to believe they will be used to harm the United States, one source said.

The deal calls for Rosario Ames to plead guilty to a violation, possibly of a different provision of the criminal code, which would result in a sentence of about six years in prison. But with time off for good behavior, she would be freed after five years, one source said.

There was no public explanation of the decision to seal the indictment, but government officials have been wary of discussing the case until pleas are entered for fear they might somehow abort the agreement.

From the government's point of view, the deal would gain Ames' full cooperation with investigators and his promise to describe how he operated, what he turned over and any help he received, according to the sources.

Ames worked for the CIA for 31 years and once headed counterintelligence in the spy agency's Soviet-East Europe section. He is accused of spying for the Soviet Union and then Russia from May 1985 until his arrest Feb. 21.

FBI agent Leslie Wiser has testified the FBI believes the Soviets paid Ames and his wife at least $2.2 million, which would make him the highest paid Russian spy ever caught in this country.

by CNB