A Topsham woman was sentenced to six months in prison for embezzling money from a federal veterans agency.

Marsha A. Jacobs, 64, stole money for food, clothing, health care and other necessities from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs intended for her brother-in-law, a disabled veteran. She was ordered by a U.S. District Court judge in Portland to pay $92,817 in restitution.

She also was sentenced to six months of home confinement and three years of supervised release.

The federal agency was paying her brother-in-law about $2,700 a month in benefits for “service-connected” disabilities, according to a news release Thursday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland.

In 2003, the agency appointed Jacobs fiduciary for her brother-in-law. In that position, she was allowed only to establish custodial bank accounts to hold those benefits, to make all disbursements using checks drawn on his custodial checking accounts, to keep accurate records, to obtain prior approval before disbursing more than $500 and to annually account for her administration of those benefits, according to the release.

The year Jacobs was appointed fiduciary, an agency employee explained to her those obligations. Jacobs signed a form acknowledging she understood them and would be accountable for the misuse of the benefits.

Starting that same year and ending in the spring of 2010, benefits totaling $242,000 were disbursed to her brother-in-law. Jacobs used some of that money for unauthorized purposes, such as building a home addition, the release said. She also spent the money on vacations, college tuition and a time share, according to published reports.

During that time, she didn’t keep “accurate records and provided incomplete and false annual accountings, often misstating custodial bank account balances,” according to the release. In April 2010, she confessed that she improperly used a substantial portion of the benefits she controlled.

Judge Nancy Torrensen said during sentencing that Jacobs had used her brother-in-law’s benefits as a “home improvement account” and noted that “her betrayal of trust impacted her brother-in-law emotionally,” the release said.

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