Man Sentenced For Making Wife A Slave Homeless Man Married, Then Dominated Elderly Church Volunteer

A homeless man who married an elderly widow more than twice his age, then bullied her into domestic slavery, has lost his long fight to avoid prison.

Down to his fifth attorney, Levi Simeon Benjamin pleaded no contest Thursday to a count of felony coercion and two misdemeanors. He agreed to a sentence of 2 years in prison, and prosecutors dropped nine other charges.

When authorities intervened, he was forcing his 73-year-old wife to dig a fence hole almost six feet deep. It was but one chapter in a litany of horrors.

While awaiting trial, the self-appointed “Jewish Christian” minister mailed off handwritten motions and writs, complaining of mistreatment because jail staff put him on a diet for obesity.

He fired three different court-appointed attorneys, which caused several trial postponements. A fourth lawyer withdrew.

In his complaints to the Oregon State Bar, he rebuked his attorneys for not planning a defense based on his good will as a homeless preacher.

According to court records, Benjamin married the victim three days after they met in 1995. At the time, she was a volunteer in a church-run program that feeds the homeless.

She and Benjamin, formerly known as Lawrence S. Berkwit, planned to start a ministry for homeless people. He was 34 years old. She was 72.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Newman described Benjamin as a soft-spoken charmer.

Within weeks, she said, her husband began abusing her, ran up huge debts on her credit cards and pressured her to sign over her property and assets.

She said Benjamin forced her to do all the house and yard work and make him meals at all hours of the day.

He cut her off from friends and family and began recording her phone calls. He watched her even when she got the mail and took the door off the bathroom to keep her in sight at all times.

On one occasion, she said, he pointed a loaded gun at her head and asked, “Do you want to meet Jesus tonight?” On another occasion, he taped her mouth shut with duct tape and laughed when she tried to answer his questions, she said.

He also had a 7-foot chain link security fence installed around their home, topped by barbed wire.

The homeless ministry never materialized.

By May 1996, at the request of alarmed neighbors and relatives, the state Senior and Disabled Services Division began an investigation.

Authorities found the victim neck-deep in a hole she was digging for a gatepost. Her husband sat nearby, on a box.

She was taken into protective custody.

A grand jury indicted Benjamin on counts ranging from coercion, fourth-degree assault and reckless endangerment to unlawful use of weapon, theft-by-extortion and animal abuse.

In September of 1996, he was arrested in Idaho.

At the time, the 5-foot-10 Benjamin weighed almost 350 pounds.

He was placed on a 2,500-calories-per-day diet and denied permission to purchase snacks.

Benjamin filed handwritten writs alleging violation of his constitutional and religious rights, saying he was entitled to wear special garments like a yarmulke.

As a result, the county was forced to hire outside counsel to defend against his claims.