Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who was convicted of spying for the Soviet Union at the beginning of the century, was found dead at a maximum security prison in Colorado on Monday.
The 79-year-old was sentenced to life in prison for espionage in 2002, after being convicted of sending classified information to the then-Soviet Union in 1985—about nine years into his FBI career. In exchange, he had received more than $1.4 million in cash, diamonds and other money paid in Russian accounts, though he never adopted a lavish lifestyle.
Hanssen had pleaded guilty to 15 counts of espionage and other charges.
On Monday, Hanssen was found unresponsive in his Florence, Colorado prison cell and later pronounced dead. He is believed to have died of natural causes, according to an Associated Press source familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss publicly the details of Hanssen’s death.
Hanssen’s spying and arrest were the subject of a 2007 movie entitled “Breach,” starring Chris Cooper.
The Bureau of Prisons said Monday that the FBI had been notified of Hanssen’s death
