Pelton provided Moscow, among others, with details pertaining to Operation Ivy Bell, a project conducted jointly by the US Navy and the NSA aimed at wiretapping Soviet military communications cables laid under the ocean.
The FBI says financial problems led the former intelligence analyst to approach the Soviet Embassy one year after his resignation in 1979 from the NSA, where he worked for 14 years, Newser reported.
TODAY IN SPY HISTORY: Ronald Pelton arrested for espionage, 1985. pic.twitter.com/IiEtRnnbsw
— The Spy Museum (@IntlSpyMuseum) November 25, 2015
After the KGB agent Vitaly Yurchenko defected to the United States, he recalled meeting a red-haired former NSA analyst. The FBI identified Ronald Pelton after scanning NSA archives and launching a surveillance program.
#OnThisDay in 1985, Ronald Pelton, an #NSA intelligence analyst was arrested for selling secrets to Soviet agents. pic.twitter.com/liHirnxIUf
— The Spy Museum (@IntlSpyMuseum) November 25, 2014
Pelton was sentenced to three life terms by a federal judge, who said he had betrayed a ‘special position of trust,’ endangered national security and damaged US intelligence programs.
On Tuesday, Ronald Pelton was released on parole after spending 30 years in custody.
What is different between Edward Snowden and Ronald Pelton?
— Need To Know Basis (@Render64) June 17, 2013
