American Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who spied on Soviet and Russian intelligence, Robert Hanssen has died. He died on June 5, 2023.
Hanssen was found unresponsive in his jail cell and was pronounced dead after unsuccessful efforts to revive him. He was 79. Hanssen is suspected to have died from natural causes.
Hanssen was arrested on February 18, 2001, at Folkestone Park, near his home in Washington, DC, a suburb of Vienna, Virginia, after leaving a package of classified materials at a dead drop site.
He was charged with selling US intelligence documents to the Soviet Union and subsequently Russia for more than $1.4 million in cash and diamonds over 22 years. After his arrest, he was initially detained at the Alexandria Adult Detention Centre. To avoid the death penalty, Hanssen pleaded guilty to 14 counts of espionage and one of conspiracy to commit espionage.
Hanssen was sentenced to 15 life terms without the possibility of parole and was promptly transferred to ADX Florence, where he remained incarcerated until his death in 2023.