'Bored' German triple agent who sold secrets to CIA and Russia jailed for 8 years

A German triple agent who sold secret information to the CIA and Russia because he was "bored and wanted adventure" has been jailed for eight years. Markus R, 32, was found guilty of treason and breach of official secrets, and was sentenced by a judge in Munich on Thursday (17 March).

Marcus Reichel was found guilty of selling more than 200 secret documents to the CIA between 2009 and 2012 for €80,000 (£63,038, $90,631). Among them was a file listing all of Germany's agents abroad, including both their cover names and their real identities.

The former employee of Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND, also delivered three classified BND documents to the Russian consulate in Munich. However, BND agents had intercepted communications between the parties, which they used to set up a trap for Reichel.

German authorities arrested Reichel in July 2014, weeks after the leaks from National Security Agency (NSA) analyst Edward Snowden revealed that the US had been spying on German diplomats and politicians.

During the trial, Reichel apologised by his actions, and said he was motivated by boredom and a "lust for adventure". "At the BND, I had the impression that no one trusted me with anything," he told the court, "but the CIA was different. You had the opportunity to prove yourself," he told the court, reported AFP.

R's lawyers argued that he did not realise the significance of his actions and viewed his actions as a "tense game, akin to cops and robbers".