ERIN NEFF: Berkley, staff go above and beyond

But Shelley Berkley stepped right into the middle of such a plot, pressuring a president, arm twisting an ambassador and traveling across the globe for a man she didn’t even know.

She was pretty much all Mark Seidenfeld had back here in the United States. And she’s the reason he’s now sitting in an apartment in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and not in prison.

Seidenfeld is an American who went to Moscow in 1991 after finishing rabbinical studies. He ended up working for a telecom company, leaving the region for just a four-month stint in Las Vegas in 2004.

That was enough to make him Berkley’s constituent, and one of the few things the desperate man could tap after being imprisoned Dec. 7, 2005, on charges from Kazakhstan that he embezzled $40,000 from his company in Almaty.

He was in eastern Russia on a business trip at the time of his arrest and was sent to a prison in that region straight out of Solzhenitsyn.

“I’m sorry I don’t remember my Fahrenheit anymore, but it was about minus 40 centigrade,” Seidenfeld said in a phone interview last week.

(That’s still -40 to you or me.)

“I had two sets of sweatsuits on and blankets and my cellmate and I would take turns waking every hour to fill plastic Coke bottles with hot water,” Seidenfeld said.

Turns out the equipment Seidenfeld was accused of stealing was still in the office. He said he was told by an accuser, “Pay me $5 million, or you’ll never get out.”

“At that point I was desperate and Shelley Berkley was really one of the few things I had,” Seidenfeld said. “Why get involved for some guy who lived in your district for not a whole lot of time?”

Berkley, who has served on the International Relations Committee in the House and worked on Asian issues, had developed a relationship with the Kazakhstani ambassador — largely because of that emerging democracy’s past role in testing atomic weapons for the Soviet Union.

Her chief of staff, Richard Urey, began working on the issue and stuck with it for more than a year.

She helped negotiate Seidenfeld’s extradition from the prison in eastern Russia to a jail in Kazakhstan (a train trip that took more than 30 days) and even got him Kosher food in his new prison.

“Once we intervened, it became very important to the Kazakhstanis to demonstrate the fairness of their legal system,” Berkley said.

They had urged her to visit their country — even before the release of “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.”

She held out, saying she wouldn’t visit while her former constituent was still in jail. Finally, she agreed to the journey to coincide with the end of his trial.

Berkley and Urey’s trip to Kazakhstan was delayed by weather in Chicago.

Ultimately they missed the once-daily connection from Frankfurt, Germany to Kazakhstan. A 24-hour trip turned into 48 hours, the same amount of time Berkley would spend meeting the Peoples Assembly, speaking to representatives of dozens of ethnic groups, drinking yak’s milk and, finally, meeting Seidenfeld.

“I practically feel like his mother,” Berkley said.

Seidenfeld, who turns 39 this week, got out of prison July 11, as Berkley was in the country. He had spent more than 18 months in jails. Now he must wait in the country for the initial appeal (an automatic in Kazakhstan). He believes that will be wrapped up favorably by the end of August, allowing him to return to Moscow and his job at Golden Telecom, a company which trades on the Nasdaq.

Seidenfeld said that while he was in jail, his company also lobbied Russian politicians on his behalf and paid his salary.

Berkley said the resolution of the case gives her hope for Kazakhstan.

“Kazakhstan has emerged as one of the breakaway republics that has a real chance to become a democracy,” she said.

Seidenfeld, understandably, is a bit more jaded.

“If you can get a whole bunch of senators, congressmen, a company in Russia and a whole bunch of Russian politicians on your side, you can get a fair legal proceeding,” he said.

He plans to return to Moscow for the short term, working for the company that stuck with him. He and his fiancee, who is from the republic of Georgia, have discussed moving permanently to the United States.

Seidenfeld has family in Brooklyn, but he’s got an adopted mother here. And with any luck, he may once again call Berkley his congresswoman.

— — —

Just a few odds and ends to report before I take a little time off.

— My column last Tuesday detailed my personal hassle with health insurance. Turns out my claim was “miscoded,” and, thanks to my written appeal (not to mention my very public airing of the issue), my claim was reprocessed. Instead of a $750 deductible, I have a $300 deductible, plus my share of the costs. Still no bargain, but better than the straight $900 I was looking at.

Plenty of readers wrote or called with similar stories of misprocessed claims. I encourage everyone to make calls and write the appeal letters, however frustrating it may be.

You might have similar luck.

— Although Republican presidential candidates continue to ignore Nevada, Democratic ones continue to make news here. Hillary Clinton unveiled still more endorsements last week.

John Edwards came for the 11th time since announcing his bid for president. (He met Thursday with Culinary union leaders.)

Barack Obama and Chris Dodd were here within the past 10 days.

And Bill Richardson, who topped all Democratic candidates in Nevada fundraising for the quarter, plans to unveil some rural support next week. Some Elko endorsements are expected from the campaign.

My column will return Aug. 7.

Erin Neff’s column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at (702) 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.