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FBI Agent Robert Philip Hanssen is shown in this undated file photo, released by the FBI February 20, 2001.
FBI | Hulton Archive | Getty Images
FBI Agent-turned-traitor Robert Hanssen, who spied for the old Soviet Union and later the Russians, died Monday in the cell where he was serving 15 consecutive life sentences for betraying his country, federal prison officials said.
Hanssen, 79, was “found unresponsive” around 6:55 a.m. at the federal “Supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado, the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement.
Despite attempts to revive him, Hanssen was pronounced dead by the EMS workers who had tried to save him, the BOP said.
The FBI was notified but the BOP did not indicate whether Hanssen’s death was under investigation.
Hanssen began spying for the Soviets in 1979, three years after he joined the FBI. He was finally arrested in 2001, the FBI said on its official history page.
“He ultimately became the most damaging spy in Bureau history,” the agency said.
Hanssen has been a prisoner at Supermax since July 17, 2002.
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