LEWISTON — A Topsham couple pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to defraud the Social Security Administration by diverting benefits earmarked for indigent people who are blind, disabled or elderly.

Thomas and Jill Gerken appeared in U.S. District Court in Portland to enter their guilty pleas, according to a written release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland.

The couple, each 63 years old, are parents of two disabled children. The Gerkens applied for and were granted Social Security benefits for their children in 2004. Jill Gerken was the designated representative to receive the payments for each child. She was required to use the money for her children’s benefit, detail annually how that money was spent and submit information on an ongoing basis to the Social Security Administration that would enable the agency to determine the children’s continued eligibility, according to the written release.

Between January 2007 and July 2013, while the children lived full time at an assisted-living facility, the Gerkens diverted about $108,000 of the Social Security Income benefits, using the money to pay for household expenses, including their mortgage, a home equity loan, utilities, groceries, travel, restaurant meals and books. Over that period, the couple failed to pay the assisted-living facility that housed their children, while Jill Gerken falsely certified to SSA each year that she had spent the SSI benefits on food and housing at the assisted living facility, according to the written release.

The Gerkens both face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The two will be sentenced after completion of pre-sentence investigation reports by the U.S. Probation Office.