A former Arlington Heights resident has pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets, valued between $7 million and $20 million, from a local paint manufacturing company where he worked as a chemist.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald announced the plea agreement on Wednesday. Sentencing for 54-year-old David Yen Lee, who now lives in New Jersey, is scheduled for Nov. 23 and he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Authorities said Lee had worked at Valspar Corp. between 2006 and March 2009, resigning without notice to take a job with a company called Nippon Paint in Shanghai. At Valspar, Lee’s responsibilities included overseeing experiments for paint coloring and scouting new paint technologies.

According to the plea agreement, Lee admitted to downloading almost 160 secret formulas for paints and coatings. He also admitted to taking other internal documents and data from Valspar’s offices in Wheeling. The thefts took place between November 2008 and March 2009, authorities said.