NSA analyst jailed for life for selling US secrets to Soviets dies aged 80 [View all]
Source: The Guardian
NSA analyst jailed for life for selling US secrets to Soviets dies aged 80
Ronald Pelton, convicted of espionage in 1986, said he accepted money from America’s cold war enemy because he was desperate
Erum Salam
Mon 12 Sep 2022 20.55 BST
Last modified on Mon 12 Sep 2022 21.46 BST
A former National Security Agency analyst who was arguably its most damaging traitor and became famous for aiding the Soviets during the cold war died last week, according to an obituary posted on the website of a Maryland funeral home.
Ronald William Pelton was 80.
Pelton was an NSA intelligence communications specialist who, in November 1985, was arrested for selling government secrets to the Soviet Union. He spent about three decades in prison before he completed serving his sentence in 2015.
Pelton’s crimes included selling defense and communication secrets for upwards of $35,000. His most notable breach of trust was informing Soviet intelligence of “Operation Ivy Bells”, a plan put forward by the NSA and the US navy to tap the Soviets’ underwater communication cables.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/12/nsa-analyst-ronald-pelton-soviets-secrets-dies
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