Biography
Sharon Scranage was a clerk with the Central Intelligence Agency whose case became one of the best-known espionage scandals of the 1980s involving human intelligence networks. While posted in Ghana, she entered a romantic relationship with a Ghanaian intelligence officer and passed classified information that included sensitive operational details and identities of people linked to U.S. intelligence activity.
After returning to the United States, she came under suspicion and was arrested in 1985 following a Federal Bureau of Investigation investigation. She pleaded guilty, was initially sentenced to five years in prison, and later had her sentence reduced to two years; she was released on parole after serving approximately 18 months.
Federal endpoint verified; initial bail gap unresolved
The authorized official BOP lookup returns Sharon M Scranage,13087-083,Alderson,with actual federal release May1,1987. The distinctive full name, compatible age and institution identify the case; the LA Times retrospective independently corroborates the release month. This replaces April30,not a sentence-derived estimate. The contemporary November25,1985 UPI report dates sentencing; its indexed text was reviewed after direct retrieval returned403. Contemporary bail reporting describes release into her parents custody before her plea. Initial arrest therefore cannot stand for continuous imprisonment until1987. Her later physical prison-admission day remains unverified,so no exact duration is calculated.
