Robert Hanssen

 The disgraced former FBI agent pleaded guilty in the Alexandria, Virginia, court last July to passing secret information to Moscow over a 20-year period. Authorities say the Kremlin paid Hanssen around $600,000 in cash and diamonds and promised that $800,000 more had been deposited in a Moscow bank for his family.

 During the trial, prosecutors said the counter-intelligence expert had betrayed his country for monetary and ego reasons. But Hanssen's lawyer Plato Cacheris told reporters outside the courthouse Friday those claims were not valid. The defense attorney offered no explanation for the spy's actions.

 During his sentencing, Hanssen told the court he was ashamed of his actions and aware that he had deeply hurt others.

 U.S. officials say Hanssen's Cold War espionage activities were partly responsible for the deaths of one of America's best intelligence sources, a Russian army general code named "Top Hat" who was executed in 1986.

 Hanssen could have been sentenced to death, but reached a plea agreement for life in prison without parole for cooperating with the investigation against him. His lawyer says the sentence was appropriate because of the seriousness of his client's actions. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters. 

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