What would be the consequence of a spy being caught?

honestly? it depends my friend. i worked for the stasi during the early eighties i cannot tell you what i did. but , i wasn't in confession or mass for that matter. i can tell you one thing when moles and clandestine officers were caught aka spies. they were either put into black sites and during that time starved, beaten and tortured for information and persuaded to give the identity of their handlers or " boss". handlers give orders and take the " spies" info he collects. the handler is unseen and covert. so choosing operatives must be done with extreme care. honestly if a spy is caught in america he will be placed in a place like gitmo or sent back to his country of origin. the cold war was nasty my friend.