Ana Montes, 65, was employed as an analyst at the Defence Intelligence Agency
(Picture: CNN)One of the most notorious Cold War-era double agents caught by America has been released from prison after more than 20 years.
Ana Montes, 65, spent nearly two decades spying for Cuba while employed as an analyst at the Defence Intelligence Agency.
After her arrest, she admitted revealing the identities of four American undercover agents and disclosing secrets so sensitive they could not be described publicly.
Officials who said Montes was among “the most damaging spies” almost entirely exposed US intelligence operations on the island.
She was arrested in September 2001 and pleaded guilty a year later to conspiring to commit espionage.
She was handed a 25-year prison sentence after the sentencing judge accused her of putting the “nation as a whole” at risk.
Former DIA investigator Chris Simmons who helped investigate Montes said she was suspected of selling information on to other enemies of the US.
He told NBC News: “A lot of spies historically have given up information, but she repeatedly tried to get Americans killed in combat.
“A very deadly woman, a very dangerous woman.”
Michelle Van Cleave, who was head of counter-intelligence under President George W Bush, told Congress in 2012 that Montes had “compromised everything - virtually everything - that we knew about Cuba and how we operated in Cuba”.
“So the Cubans were well aware of everything that we knew about them and could use that to their advantage. In addition, she was able to influence estimates about Cuba in her conversations with colleagues and she also found an opportunity to provide information that she acquired to other powers.”
Unlike other high-profile spies caught during the cold war, Montes was motivated by ideology, not personal gain. She agreed to work for Cuban intelligence in part based on her opposition to the Reagan Administration’s activities in Latin America.
Montes will remain under supervision for five years and have her internet usage monitored. She will also be banned from working for the government or contacting foreign agents without permission.
