A Linwood man pleaded guilty to stealing $125,000 from an elderly couple he met as a caseworker for Atlantic County Adult Protective Services, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced on Friday.

William Price, 57, pleaded guilty to a second-degree charge of theft by deception on Friday. He faces five years in state prison and restitution of the full $125,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 18.

He was indicted in March along with the owner of an in-home senior care company in Atlantic County and her sister in a scheme to defrauding elderly clients out of millions of dollars, and laundering the funds through various accounts. He was indicted on March 16 along with Jan Van Holt, 59, of Linwood, owner of A Better Choice, a company that offered elderly clients in-home care and legal financial planning; Sondra Steen, 60, of Linwood, Van Holt's sister, who helped run the company; and Susan Hamlett, 56, of Egg Harbor Township, who worked as an aide for company clients. A physician, Dr. Maria Teresa S. Daclan, 53, of Galloway Township, is charged with lying to State Police during the investigation.

Van Holt and Steen allegedly conspired with Barbara Lieberman, 63, of Northfield, a lawyer who specialized in elder law, to steal over $2.7 million from 12 elderly clients from January 2003 through December 2012. Lieberman pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced on March 25 to 10 years in prison, including 3 ½ years of parole ineligibility. She forfeited $3 million in assets as well as her law license.

On Friday, Price admitted he stole $125,000 from a couple he met in 2006 through his job as a caseworker for Atlantic County. Price, who worked with Van Holt at Adult Protective Services, befriended the elderly couple and recruited them as clients for Van Holt, Steen and Lieberman, who allegedly stole more than $800,000 from the couple. Price received $125,000 of the stolen funds.

"Price callously betrayed the trust and friendship of an elderly couple to enrich himself," Hoffman said. "As a social worker, he should have been all about helping them, but instead he set them up to have their savings stolen by him and his co-defendants."

"Anyone who targets the elderly for fraud deserves stern punishment, but Price's conduct was even more egregious because he victimized an ailing couple he encountered in his official position as a caseworker for Adult Protective Services," Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice said. "Price's actions strike a particularly sour chord because he was supposed to be on the front lines of protecting the rights of the very people he helped to victimize," Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said. "I am proud of the work by my detectives and all involved who delivered justice to the responsible criminals in this case."