Spying for other countries or groups is in many cases illegal and punishable by law. The following is a list of individuals that have either been imprisoned for spying, or individuals that have been arrested in connection to their spying activities.
Name Nationality Summary Conviction Date Penalty Aldrich Ames American Convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia Life sentence (without parole) David Sheldon Boone American Sold secret documents to the Soviet Union and is estimated to have received $60,000 from the KGB 24 Years and 4 Months Marthe Cnockaert Belgian Convicted for spying for the United Kingdom and its allies during the First World War Life sentence (released 2 years later)Clayton J. LonetreeAmericanConvicted for providing classified information to the Soviet Union while stationed in Moscow as a guard at the U.S. EmbassyAugust 21, 198730-year sentence, reduced to 15, released February 1996Alexander FishenkoAmerican-RussianConvicted for illegally exporting microelectronics from the U.S.A. to RussiaJuly 21, 201610-year sentence James Hall III American Signals analyst who sold eavesdropping and code secrets to East Germany and the Soviet Union from 1983 to 1988 40-year sentence Robert Hanssen American Spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States from 1979 to 2001 Life sentence (without parole) Ana Montes American Convicted for conspiracy to commit espionage for the government of Cuba 25-year prison term followed by five years probation Harold James Nicholson American Twice-convicted spy for Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service 23 years 7-month sentence Stewart Nozette American Convicted for attempted espionage and fraud against the United States for the government of Israel 13-year sentence Ronald Pelton American Spied for and sold secret documents to the Soviet Union. Was known to have a photographic memory and as such never passed any physical documents on. Life sentence (Released November 24, 2015) Earl Edwin Pitts American Accused of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia, and pleaded guilty to conspiring and attempting to commit espionage 27-year sentence Jonathan Pollard American Convicted for espionage for passing highly sensitive classified information to Israel while working as an American civilian intelligence analyst Life sentence (Released November 20, 2015) George Trofimoff American Convicted for spying for the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s Life sentence John Anthony Walker American Convicted of spying for the Soviet Union from 1968 to 1985 Life sentenceBrian Patrick ReganAmericanConvicted of one of gathering national defense information and two counts of attempted espionage for soliciting classified information to Iraq, China, and Libya.March 21, 2003Life sentenceChelsea ManningAmericanConvicted of six counts of the espionage act for providing classified information to WikileaksJuly 30, 201335-year sentence, commuted (released May 17, 2017)Dongfan "Greg" ChungChineseConvicted of economic espionage; stole trade secrets related to the US Space Shuttle program and the Delta IV rocket and provided them to ChinaJuly 16, 200915-year sentence, died May 18, 2020, while incarceratedKendall & Gwendolyn MyersAmericanConvicted of spying for Cuba across a 30-year spanNovember 20, 2009Life sentence (without parole); 81 months
See also List of people convicted of treason
References