A Topsham couple who diverted more than $100,000 in Supplemental Security Income benefits intended for their disabled twin daughters have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland.

Thomas Gerken and Jill Gerken, both 63, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to defraud the Social Security Administration, U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II said in a news release.

The couple, who have yet to be sentenced, face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

SSI benefits are paid to or on behalf of people who are blind, disabled or elderly and whose income is below specified levels, according to the news release.

According to court records, the Gerkens are the parents of two adult-age disabled children. In 2004, the Gerkens applied for and received SSI benefits for each child.

Between January 2007 and July 2013, when the children lived in an assisted living facility, the Gerkens diverted about $108,000 of the benefits and used them to pay for household expenses, including their mortgage, a home equity loan, utilities, groceries, travel, restaurant meals and books, Delahanty said.

Over that period of time, Delahanty said, Jill Gerken – her children’s representative payee – failed to pay the assisted living facility even though she told the Social Security Administration that she was spending the benefits on food and housing at the facility.

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