Fifteen Leap Frogs

 

William Kampiles always wanted to be a spy. While he was attending Indiana University in 1977, he was recruited by the CIA. He was given a job routing message traffic. I’m not sure what that means, but apparently it was very boring. He really wanted to work in the covert section of the CIA, but that would require a good deal of training. William had a better idea. He stole a top-secret KH-11 spy satellite manual from CIA headquarters, and quit his job. Then he flew to Athens and visited the Soviet embassy there. He offered them the stolen manual and was paid $3,000. The Soviets gave William a camera and told him to gather more secrets. William then contacted an agent and told him what he’d done. He thought the CIA would be impressed with his skills and make him a double agent. Instead, he was sent to prison.