Robert Hanssen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Robert Hanssen |
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| Birth name | Robert Philip Hanssen |
| Born | April 18, 1944 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | June 5, 2023 (aged 79) ADX Florence, Fremont County, Colorado, U.S. |
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Bernadette "Bonnie" Wauck
(m. 1968) |
| Children | 6 |
| Occupation | FBI agent (1976–2001) |
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Robert Philip Hanssen (born April 18, 1944 – died June 5, 2023) was an American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent. He secretly worked for the Soviet Union and Russia against the United States from 1979 to 2001. His actions were considered a very serious security problem for the U.S. government.
In 1979, Hanssen started working secretly for the Soviet Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). This first period of secret work lasted until 1981. He started again in 1985 and continued until 1991. He stopped communicating during the collapse of the Soviet Union because he was afraid of being found out. Hanssen began communicating again the next year and continued until he was arrested. He managed to stay anonymous to the Russians throughout his secret activities.
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Robert Hanssen's Secret Activities
Robert Hanssen sold many secret documents to the KGB, which was the main security agency for the Soviet Union. These documents contained important information about U.S. plans for a nuclear war. They also revealed new military weapons and details about how the U.S. found out about other spies.
Hanssen was working secretly at the same time as another spy named Aldrich Ames. Ames worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Both Hanssen and Ames revealed the names of KGB agents who were secretly working for the U.S. government. Because their identities were revealed, some of these agents faced serious consequences.
Hanssen also told the Russians about a secret tunnel. This tunnel was built by the FBI under the Soviet Embassy to listen in on conversations. After Ames was arrested in 1994, some of these security problems were still a mystery. The search for another secret agent continued. The FBI paid a KGB agent $7 million to get a file about an unknown secret agent. The FBI later used fingerprints and voice analysis to figure out that this agent was Hanssen.
Hanssen's Arrest and Punishment
Hanssen was arrested on February 18, 2001. He was caught at Foxstone Park, which is near his home in Vienna, Virginia. He had just left a package of secret materials at a hidden drop-off spot.
He was accused of selling U.S. secret documents to the Soviet Union and later to Russia. Over 22 years, he received more than $1.4 million in cash and diamonds for this information. To avoid a very severe punishment, Hanssen admitted to 14 charges of working secretly against the U.S. and one charge of planning to do so. He was sentenced to 15 life terms in prison, meaning he would never be released. He was held at ADX Florence prison until he died in 2023.
Hanssen's Death
Hanssen died in his prison cell on June 5, 2023. He was 79 years old. It is believed that he died from natural causes.
Images for kids
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Robert Hanssen's official FBI photo.
See also
In Spanish: Robert Hanssen para niños
