One heckuva Social Security scam….

A woman accused of helpingher religious leader hide a decaying corpse on her toilet so theycould continue collecting her Social Security was convicted of amisdemeanor in a deal for her to testify against the leader, aprosecutor said Monday.  Tammy Lewis, 36, of Necedah, pleaded nocontest to obstructing a police officer and fined $350 in a pleabargain that defers prosecution of more serious charges. JuneauCounty Circuit John Roemer ordered her to pay the fine within 60days or serve a seven-day jail sentence.

Lewis and Alan Bushey, 58, were accused ofhiding 90-year-old Magdeline Alvina Middlesworth’s body on a toiletin Lewis’ home after she died in March. Investigators saidMiddlesworth and Lewis were members of a religious sect Bushey ledcalled the Order of the Divine Will.

Bushey told Lewis that God would reviveMiddlesworth, who friends and family said was from Washingtonstate, investigators said.  Lewis in May initially told a sheriff’sdeputy that Middlesworth was on vacation.  The deputy later discovered the elderlywoman’s rotting body in Lewis’ stench-filled home.

She also told authorities she wasMiddlesworth’s power of attorney, and the older woman used all ofher money to support their six-member religious group.Investigators believe Middlesworth’s Social Security and annuitychecks totaling nearly $3,000 were deposited after her death into abank account she shared with Lewis.

As part of Lewis’ plea deal, five othercharges, including three felony counts of hiding a corpse andcausing mental harm to a child, will be dismissed in two years ifshe cooperates with prosecutors and follows other court ordersinvolving her children, District Attorney Scott Southworthsaid.

“We view her as a victim as well of AlanBushey,” Southworth said. “We also understand the power, the mentalpower, that Alan Bushey was exercising over her, the coercion hewas exerting over her.”  A deferred prosecution agreement calls forLewis to continue to receive mental health treatment and testifyagainst Bushey in a trial set to begin in April, the prosecutorsaid.  She and her two children, now ages 12 and 15,will be witnesses in the trial, he said.

Lewis’ son told detectives Bushey told himdemons were destroying Middlesworth’s appearance as she decayed inthe bathroom to make it look like she wouldn’t rise from the dead,the criminal complaint said.

Source:  AP/The Capital Times (Madison, WI), http://www.madison.com/tct/news//index.php?ntid=314772