Employee convicted of stealing trade secrets from McHenry County company

A federal jury this week convicted a 30-year employee of a McHenry County manufacturing firm of stealing trade secrets while planning to move to China to work for a rival company.

Robert O'Rourke, 59, of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, was convicted Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago on seven counts of theft of trade secrets. Each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Since 1984, O'Rourke worked for Dura-Bar, a Woodstock-based manufacturer of continuous cast-iron products, as plant metallurgist, quality assurance manager and salesperson. He also helped the company develop business in China and other locations, prosecutors said.

In late 2013, O'Rourke began several months of negotiations for a similar job with a rival firm in Jiangsu, China, eventually accepting the position of vice president in September 2015, while still employed with Dura-Bar. He downloaded electronic data and documents belonging to Dura-Bar without authorization two days before leaving the company, prosecutors said.

Federal authorities arrested O'Rourke the following week at Chicago O'Hare International Airport while he waited to board a flight to China with the proprietary information.

O'Rourke's sentencing is set for June 3 before federal Judge Andrea Wood.