PITTSBURGH—A Pittsburgh-area chiropractor and his wife will spend 16 years on probation and must repay $1.4 million they pleaded guilty to misspending from a trust fund established for twins thee couple adopted in 2003 after the twins' parents died in a murder-suicide.

Allegheny County prosecutors charged that 46-year-old Daniel Pompa and his wife, 44-year-old Merily Pompa, knowingly looted the trust fund to pay for a lavish lifestyle.

The couple pleaded guilty Wednesday to misapplying money from the trust established for the twins, who were the children of Merily Pompa's cousin.

The Pompa's attorney, Robert Stewart, contends his clients meant no harm and wrongly assumed they could spend the money because the adopted children were now part of their family—which includes the couple's own three children.

Stewart says that was "morally defensible" but not "legally defensible."