WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A 38-year-old Chinese man pleaded guilty on Monday to charges that he stole numerous sensitive military program documents from United Technologies Corp and transported them to China, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Yu Long pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in the theft of trade secrets to benefit a foreign government and one count of unlawful export and attempted export of defense articles in violation of the Arms Export Control Act, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Long, who worked as a senior engineer/scientist at United Technologies Research Center in Connecticut from 2008 to 2014, could be sentenced to a maximum 15 years on one count and 20 years on the other, it said.