PORTLAND — A Lewiston woman was ordered to repay more than $90,000 Wednesday after admitting to Social Security fraud dating back to 2011.

Donna Desroisiers, 62, was also sentenced to a year of federal probation during the sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Portland. She admitted to the charge of Social Security fraud in October 2024.

Before a plea arrangement was made, Desrosiers had faced up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Prosecutors said that between Nov., 1, 2011, and Nov. 1, 2022, Desrosiers collected about $90,674.00 in SSI benefits she was not entitled to.

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

In it, Semivan wrote that Desrosiers was married in 1981 and 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,” according to the document.

“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 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, after admitting to the charge, that this was why she had been reluctant to report that to the Social Security Administration.