Robert Hansen, a former FBI agent who became one of the most notorious spies in American history, was found dead in a federal prison Monday morning, according to the “New York Post.”
He would have died a natural death. The 79-year-old was serving a life sentence for spying for the United States and providing information to the Soviet Union and later Russia.
Robert Hansen was arrested in February 2001 while passing classified information to his Russian intelligence contacts in a park near his home in Northern Virginia. He pleaded guilty to 13 counts of espionage, one count of attempted espionage and one count of conspiracy to commit espionage.
“The FBI entrusted him with some of the most sensitive secrets of the US government. Instead of keeping that trust, he abused and betrayed it,” the FBI said at the time.
Robert Hansen began his covert operations in 1985 by providing information to the KGB. US agents found his name in Russian government documents. The Americans quickly interrogated Hanson before arresting him shortly before his retirement. He reportedly received $1.4 million from Russia for providing intelligence to the Soviets.
According to US authorities, Robert Hansen sent about 6,000 documents and 26 computer disks.
