Editing Espionage (section)

=== Espionage law in the United States ===
In the United States, it is covered by the [[Espionage Act of 1917]]. The risks of espionage vary. A spy violating the host country's laws may be deported, imprisoned, or even executed. A spy violating its own country's laws can be imprisoned for espionage or/and [[treason]] (which in the United States and some other jurisdictions can only occur if they take up arms or aids the enemy against their own country during wartime), or even executed, as the [[Rosenbergs]] were. For example, when [[Aldrich Ames]] handed a stack of dossiers of U.S. [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) agents in the [[Eastern Bloc]] to his KGB-officer "handler", the KGB "rolled up" several networks, and at least ten people were secretly shot. When Ames was arrested by the U.S. [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI), he faced life in prison; his contact, who had [[diplomatic immunity]], was declared ''[[persona non grata]]'' and taken to the airport. Ames' wife was threatened with life imprisonment if her husband did not cooperate; he did, and she was given a five-year sentence. [[Hugh Francis Redmond]], a CIA officer in China, spent nineteen years in a Chinese prison for espionage—and died there—as he was operating without diplomatic cover and immunity.<ref>{{cite web|title=CIA Status Improves Contractor's Case for Immunity|url=http://newamericamedia.org/2011/02/cia-status-improves-contractors-case-for-immunity.php|publisher=New America Media|access-date=2013-08-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102085259/http://newamericamedia.org/2011/02/cia-status-improves-contractors-case-for-immunity.php|archive-date=2013-11-02|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

In United States law, treason,<ref>[http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t17t20+1130+29++%28treason%29 treason] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203024319/http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t17t20+1130+29++%28treason%29 |date=December 3, 2012 }}</ref> espionage,<ref>{{cite web |url = http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t17t20+486+45++%28espionage%25 |title = espionage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203024325/http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t17t20+486+45++%28espionage%25 |archive-date=3 December 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and spying<ref>[http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t09t12+600+1++%28spying%29%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20 spying] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203024508/http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t09t12+600+1++%28spying%29%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20 |date=December 3, 2012 }}</ref> are separate crimes. Treason and espionage have graduated punishment levels.

The United States in [[World War I]] passed the Espionage Act of 1917. Over the years, many spies, such as the [[Soble spy ring]], [[Robert Lee Johnson (spy)|Robert Lee Johnson]], [[Julius and Ethel Rosenberg|the Rosenberg ring]], [[Aldrich Hazen Ames]],<ref name=jyaames /> [[Robert Philip Hanssen]],<ref name=fashans /> [[Jonathan Pollard]], [[John Anthony Walker]], [[James Hall III]], and others have been prosecuted under this law.

In modern times, many people convicted of espionage have been given penal sentences rather than execution. For example, [[Aldrich Hazen Ames]] is an American CIA analyst, turned KGB mole, who was convicted of espionage in 1994; he is serving a [[life sentence]] without the possibility of parole in the high-security [[United States Penitentiary, Allenwood|Allenwood U.S. Penitentiary]].<ref name="Federal Bureau of Prisons">{{cite web |url=http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&LastName=Ames&Middle=&FirstName=Aldrich+&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=23&y=24 |title=Aldrich Hazen Ames Register Number: 40087-083 |publisher=Federal Bureau of Prisons |work=Bop.gov |access-date=2014-01-03 |archive-date=2012-09-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919121009/http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&LastName=Ames&Middle=&FirstName=Aldrich+&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=23&y=24 |url-status=dead }} ''(Search result)''</ref> Ames was formerly a 31-year [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] [[counter-intelligence|counterintelligence]] officer and analyst who committed espionage against his country by [[spying]] for the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Russia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/aldrich-hazen-ames|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013065115/http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/aldrich-hazen-ames|url-status=dead|archive-date=2010-10-13|title= Aldrich Hazen Ames|publisher=FBI}}</ref> So far as it is known, Ames compromised the second-largest number of CIA agents, second only to [[Robert Hanssen]], who also served a prison sentence until his death in 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Hanssen, F.B.I. Agent Exposed as Spy for Moscow, Dies at 79 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/us/robert-hanssen-spy-dead.html |website=The New York Times |date=5 June 2023 |access-date=5 June 2023 |last1=Baker |first1=Peter }}</ref>