For 15 years Robert Philip Hanssen appears to have led a secret life. It all came crashing down last week when he was arrested in a park near his home in Vienna, Virginia. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says the quiet father of six kids is a spy! Hanssen, who has worked for the fbi for 25 years, was arrested in a park minutes after investigators say they saw him leave a bag there. It was full of top-secret government documents. Agents found $50,000-apparently a payment for Hanssen-hidden nearby.
The FBI says Hanssen has received more than $1 million in cash and diamonds for selling U.S. secrets. Hanssen reportedly began selling sensitive information in 1986 to the Soviet Union, then an enemy of the U.S. In 1991 the Soviet Union split into several countries. Hanssen is said to have then continued spying for Russia, which had been part of the Soviet Union. Among other secrets, Hanssen reportedly revealed the identity of two U.S. spies working in the Soviet Union. Those spies were killed.
This is only the third time that an FBI agent has been accused of being a mole-a spy who works inside the government. Hanssen faces the serious charge of espionage. If he's found responsible for the death of the two spies, he could get the death penalty.