Former Ford engineer Xiang Dong Yu admitted of stealing confidential information before filing his resignation to work in China.

The authorities stated that Yu formerly worked for the Ford Motor until he decided to resign to accept his new job in Shenzhen, China. He pleaded guilty for two counts of theft of trade secrets on Wednesday.

The 49-year-old Yu from Beijing will be sentenced in February next year, between 5 to 6 ½-year imprisonment based on the calculated loss to the company between $50 to $100 million, according to the eastern district of Michigan’s U.S. Attorney.

In addition, Yu is ordered to pay a fine of about $150,000 and will be deported out of the U.S. right after completing his sentence.

The former Ford engineer was recognized as Mike Yu while working with the company as a production engineer between 1997 to 2007. Before 2006 ends, he accepted a position from the Chinese branch of a U. S. firm.

Yu copied about 4,000 Ford important documents using his computer that includes confidential designs not related to his job for the Ford Motor on the night before he leave the U.S., affirmed by the prosecutors.

Yu had emailed his resignation to his superior at the company on January 2, 2007 and in 2008, he accepted a job to another Ford’s competitor the Beijing Automotive Company.

In October last year, he went back to U.S. from China and he was apprehended and imprisoned in Chicago. The FBI also found out that his laptop contained important design documents from Ford while working for Beijing Automotive.

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade stated that they would seriously protect the rational property of their U.S. automobile manufacturers who are shelling out millions of bucks and years of time to study and develop to contend in the economy worldwide.