TRENTON -- Nine people have been charged with Hurricane Sandy fraud, bringing the total number of people accused by state authorities of exploiting disaster relief programs since the storm made landfall to 71, authorities said.

They include a Toms River motel owner who billed the federal government for emergency housing and five family members from the Newark area who allegedly submitted fraudulent applications to relief programs, according to the state Attorney General's Office.

The latest round of charges came last week, when authorities accused eight people of defrauding relief programs. One of the defendants, 44-year-old Jerry Gustoso II, allegedly received more than $200,000 in relief funds by claiming a storm-damaged vacation home was his primary residence while he actually lived in Hoboken, authorities said.

Most state and federal relief programs were only available to those whose primary residences were damaged by the storm.

Another defendant, Sandipkumar Patel, 43, made more than $80,000 by charging the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide rooms to victims at the American Motel on Route 166 in Toms River.

Authorities say Patel made $133.28 a day for housing Sandy victims who either didn't stay as long as he claimed or never stayed at his establishment at al.

Robert Stahl, an attorney for Patel, told NJ Advance Media his client "has acknowledged responsibility and has agreed to make full restitution." Attorneys for the other defendants did not immediately respond to messages seeking comments.

The five family members charged -- Debra Reddick, 58; her children Thomas Jamar Reddick, 34, and Lateefah Reddick, 38; her niece Neima Jones, 32; and another relative, Kevin Osborne, 55 -- each allegedly applied for between $4,000 and $14,000 apiece in Sandy relief using fraudulent lease documents or phony utility bills, authorities said.

A Point Pleasant man, Michael J. Casey, 51, allegedly applied for more than $90,000 in relief grants for damage at a dilapitated property he falsely claimed as his primary residence, authorities said.

A Manahawkin woman, Judith McMahon, 47, allegedly received $18,292 as compensation for rent she was paying in Maryland after being displaced by the storm. But, authorities claim, she had actually been renting that property since 2010 -- two years before the storm made landfall.

All of the accused were charged with various degrees of theft by deception. Gustoso, Casey and Thomas Jamar Reddick were also charged with unsworn falsification.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.