A former DuPont Co. employee will spend 18 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to theft of trade secrets and obstruction of justice.

The sentence handed Michael Mitchell Thursday in a Richmond court was slightly higher than the 16 months the government had recommended as part of a plea agreement.

Mitchell left DuPont in early 2006 and formed his own aramid fiber consulting business. He was accused of sending an e-mail with DuPont proprietary information to Kolon Industries, a Korea-based competitor to DuPont's Kevlar products.

Mitchell agreed to cooperate with investigators, and the FBI arranged a meeting in which Kolon officials flew to Richmond to obtain confidential technology. But Mitchell later told Kolon officials the meeting had been secretly recorded.

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