A former state legislator pleaded guilty Wednesday to misappropriating federal loan funds linked to a Topsham housing development.

Adam Mack, 38, of Standish, waived indictment and pleaded guilty in United States District Court to equity-skimming, U.S. Attorney John P. Kacavas said in a news release.

Mack — a former state legislator who served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1997 to 2000 — was an officer and principal owner of Chartwell Management Co. Inc., a Portland-based residential property management firm.

Chartwell managed several multi-family residential properties, including Barron’s Hill I in Topsham.

To purchase that property, the property’s owners had obtained mortgage loans subsidized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. In January 2007, Kacavas said Mack misapplied $384,000 that Chartwell was holding for the regulatory agency as security for the mortgage loan.

Mack used those funds to pay unrelated expenses incurred by other properties and entities in which he and his family had an interest, Kacavas said.

Mack faces a maximum of five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. He is expected to be sentenced within the next three months.

Mack’s prosecution arose from an investigation undertaken by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.