Alleged Spy Fulfilling Boyhood Dream

Feb. 21 -- American counterintelligence has only suspected the identity of the spy known as "Ramon" for four months. The man accused of passing secrets to the Russians seems to have known he would play the role for more than 40 years.

In a letter quoted in the 100-page affidavit filed with the indictment charging him with two counts of espionage for Moscow, FBI agent Robert Hanssen says: "I decided on this course of action when I was 14 years old. I'd read [British double agent Kim] Philby's book."

FBI officials say Hanssen was arrested Sunday night after he deposited a package containing classified information in a park near his neighborhood. Overnight, he went from being a low-key family man to only the third FBI agent ever accused of spying.

For more than 15 years, Hanssen allegedly spied for the Soviet Union and Russia, passing on classified information for more than $1.4 million in cash and jewels.

If the letters are to be believed, money was not the object, as Hanssen realized that any large infusion of funds into his bank accounts would be noticed by his superiors.

"As far as the funds are concerned," Hanssen wrote to the Soviets shortly after beginning to work for them, "I have little need or utility for more than the $100,000. It merely provides a difficulty since I cannot spend it, store it or invest it easily without triping [sic] "drug money" warning bells. Perhaps some diamonds as security to my children and some good will so that when the time comes, you will accept by [sic] senior services as a guest lecturer. Eventually, I would appreciate an escape plan. (Nothing lasts forever.)"

The affidavit makes it appear that "Ramon" well understood the need to cover his tracks. He lays out detailed schemes to communicate indirectly with his Soviet and Russian counterparts, to whom he never revealed his true identity. According to FBI Director Louis Freeh, Moscow only learned who "Ramon" was when the charges against Hanssen were announced Tuesday.