CIA agent Aldrich Ames has agreed to confess Thursday to his nine years as a Soviet spy.
So far, Ames hasn't uttered a word to prosecutors. But in a plea bargain scheduled for Thursday morning, Ames has agreed to reveal all - starting that afternoon - about how he sold CIA secrets to the Soviet Union and Russia for more than $ 2.5 million.
Ames, 52, will plead guilty to espionage and tax evasion in federal court in Alexandria, Va. The plea agreement calls for a life sentence without parole.
Rosario Ames, 41, his wife, will get five years on similar charges. That will let her resume caring for the couple's son, Paul, 5, before he is grown.
"People involved in the case tell me he has far more affection for the child than for his wife these days," says former U.S. Attorney Henry Hudson.
The plea bargain is not unusual; the government often tries to cut deals in spy cases. The reasons:
-- To avoid revealing sensitive and embarrassing intelligence secrets at trial.
-- To gain the cooperation of the spy - the only person who can truly tell how much damage occurred.
"The prosecution loses the deterrent and punitive effect by giving up a long sentence for Mrs. Ames," says Georgetown University law professor Paul Rothstein. "But they'll get help in assessing damage done by the Ameses and finding out who else the Russians have behind our lines."
But one key U.S. senator is worried about prosecutors striking a deal with Ames before they know how much he'll tell them.
"If they get verification on what he can deliver, a plea bargain is in our interests," says Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., head of the intelligence committee. "I assume they'll do that."
But Ames hasn't given any hints to prosecutors about what he'll say, although he has pledged full cooperation.
Prosecutors won't have much leverage if Ames doesn't cooperate. Ames will have a life sentence anyway. His wife could fulfill her plea agreement without telling the CIA everything it wants to know. She claims she didn't know about the spying, although tape transcripts seem to indicate otherwise.
On the other hand, Ames has nothing to lose by telling all.
"There's no real drawback for the government," says Vincent Cannistraro, a former CIA official who knew Ames. "The government can't fully understand what happened without his full cooperation."
Ames' confession is expected to wreck some CIA careers.
"People will be held accountable for Ames' penetration. He has a lot of information of who helped him - wittingly and unwittingly - to manipulate the system," Cannistraro says.
Cannistraro expects Ames to be honest. "Psychologically, he's prepared to spend the rest of his life in prison."
