My Country for a Rolex

CIA employee Aldrich Hazen Ames and his wife Maria del Rosario Casas Ames were arrested last week and charged with spying for Russia. The fact that they were accused of accepting $1.5 million and spending it on such flashy items as a Jaguar and a $540,000 home (paid in cash) raised a few eyebrows. But a taste for luxury has been an essential component of the nouveau riche traitor life- style for at least a decade:

SPY

Edward L. Howard, charged in 1985 with spying for the Soviet Union

PAYOFF

$150,000 (and some Soviet cigars)

WHAT IT WENT TOWARD

Krugerrands and silver bars, a Rolex watch, a red Jeep

SPY

Ronald W. Pelton, charged in 1985 with spying for the Soviet Union

PAYOFF

$35,000, plus travel expenses

WHAT IT WENT TOWARD

Canceling debts (he asked to be paid in gold bullion)

SPY

Jonathan Jay Pollard, charged in 1985 with spying for Israel

PAYOFF

$45,000 to $50,000

WHAT IT WENT TOWARD

Two trips to Europe, a diamond-and-sapphire ring for his wife

SPY

John A. Walker Jr., charged in 1985 with spying for the Soviet Union

PAYOFF

$1 million

WHAT IT WENT TOWARD

A houseboat, an airplane, two cars (Chrysler and Oldsmobile), land in North and South Carolina

SPY

Jerry Whitworth, charged in 1985 with passing classified material to John A.Walker Jr.

PAYOFF

$332,000

WHAT IT WENT TOWARD

Gold coins; two motorcycles; rented, chauffeured Rolls-Royces; $10,000 worth of gold and silver options; expensive lingerie

SPY

Larry Wu-Tai Chin, charged in 1985 with spying for China

PAYOFF

$180,000

WHAT IT WENT TOWARD

29 rental properties worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, $96,000 in gambling debts at various Las Vegas casinos

SPY

Richard W. Miller, charged in 1984 with spying for the Soviet Union

PAYOFF

$65,000

WHAT IT WENT TOWARD

A pair of Italian shoes, a jogging outfit, a $675 trench coat, staving off bankruptcy