You may know that 1985 is coined “The Year of the Spy,” but what you may not know is that the entirety of the 1980s is just as significantly dubbed “The Decade of the Spy.”
The Cold War may have been concluding at this point, but the number of spies captured by the FBI during the final days of the war is astounding. You might think that with the Cold War winding down, perhaps the number of spies passing secrets to the Soviet Union via United States government jobs would congruently decrease as well.
The 1980s proved this notion wrong as the FBI captured mole after mole. Fourteen Americans were captured in 1985 alone and, until today, we likely don’t know any of the captured by name, not to mention an idea of what their time was like as a spy.
Learning a thing or two about just a few of these spies will undoubtedly fascinate most of us, even if we’re not history geeks by nature.
the infamous John Anthony Walker, jr.
Perhaps the most notorious among the apprehended is John Anthony Walker, Jr. Here’s a rapid-fire history of how he spiraled from spy status to criminal status.
- He began working for the Soviet Union while retaining a job as a U.S. Navy Warrant Officer and communications specialist.
- Walker succeeded in sending the Soviets over one million previously encrypted messages through his use of a device presented to him by Soviet powers.
- He successfully recruited multiple close friends and family, including his son.
- He was eventually arrested by the FBI and sentenced to life in prison after his ex-wife discovered his double life residing in his desk at home.
Sharon Marie Scranage
- This CIA stenographer was posted in Ghana and, through her budding relationship with Michael Soussoudis (a relative of the Ghanaian head of state, no less), began secreting information.
- Amongst the leaked information was intel regarding military equipment and various identities within the CIA, to name but a couple.
- Both Scranage and Soussoudis were charged in 1985 after Scranage failed a polygraph test on behalf of the CIA.
Jonathan Jay Pollard
A third and final individual amongst the slew of fourteen spies arrested in 1985 is Jonathan Jay Pollard. Here’s a little bit about him:
- Pollard secretly worked for Israel while holding a job with the U.S. government as an intelligence analyst.
- Pollard was aided by his wife, Annie, in the passing of highly classified information to Aviem Sella, a veteran of the Israeli Air Force. The type of information that was leaked is not available for public consumption.
- Pollard was paid bountifully by the Israelis, from a grand supply of cash to a stash of jeweled luxuries for his wife.
- Both Pollard and Annie were arrested in November of 1985 once Pollard’s co-workers became mistrustful of him.
