PORTLAND — A Lewiston woman who collected more than $90,000 she wasn’t entitled to over the course of more than a decade admitted Monday to Social Security fraud.

Donna D. Desrosiers, 61, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a charge of concealment of information affecting her entitlement to Supplemental Security Income benefits.

The felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, followed by a maximum of three years of supervised release.

She also was charged with a second count of Social Security fraud as well as a count of theft of public money. Those charges are expected to be dismissed at sentencing.

Desrosiers reached agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to the single fraud charge, for which prosecutors recommended a sentence of probation not to exceed five years and not more than six months of home detention.

If the judge were to impose a sentence greater than that recommendation, Desrosiers could appeal it. She may not withdraw her guilty plea.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeanne D. Semivan outlined the evidence against Desrosiers in a court document which Desrosiers and her attorney said Monday was factually accurate.

In it, Semivan wrote that Desrosiers was married in 1981 and that she began receiving SSI benefits in 2003.

When she applied for benefits, she was informed about reporting requirements regarding changes to household members and income, Semivan wrote.

Since 2009, Desrosiers’ husband received Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, Semivan wrote.

In 2012, during a review of her benefits, Desrosiers acknowledged she was married but didn’t indicate that her husband was a member of her household,” Semivan wrote.

“She further denied having any resources beyond $25 in a savings account and failed to include any income attributable to her husband,” according to Semivan.

Again, in 2022, Desrosiers was reminded of her reporting responsibilities.

“She acknowledged being married to her husband, but claimed that they had not lived together since 2003,” Semivan wrote.

Desrosiers and her husband had deposited their benefits into a joint checking account during an 11-year period from 2011 to 2022, Semivan wrote.

The street addresses of their homes were two digits apart and the two addresses were located in the same apartment building, according to Semivan.

When federal agents called the phone number Desrosiers had provided to the Social Security Administration, a male answered, identifying himself with a name matching the defendant’s husband.

Desrosiers eventually told agents she and her husband lived together.

“Although the defendant maintained that her husband later spent some time out of the home, she indicated that he lived with her and stayed at her apartment for at least 12 days of each month for the previous 11 years,” Semivan wrote.

When Desrosiers was asked what she thought would have happened had she reported her husband’s presence in her home more often than not, she said, “They would probably take my check,” Semivan wrote. Desrosiers confirmed why she had been reluctant to report that to the Social Security Administration.

From “Nov., 1, 2011, through Nov. 1, 2022, the defendant collected approximately $90,674.00 in SSI benefits she was not entitled to,” Semivan wrote.

In the plea agreement, Desrosiers agreed to repay that money.