But then she hit him with what many Web sites describe as a fairly standard scam: her mother had breast cancer and they needed money for expensive treatment.
Berkowitz said he checked with the agency that had introduced them and was told the woman did have cancer, so he sent money.
But the story didn't check out. He cut off communication and said he posted her name on a Web site alerting would-be husbands to Baltic women who will cheat them.
He'd lost about US$40,000, he said, but wasn't too upset as he hadn't yet developed enough of an emotional tie to her.
His story is included as a cautionary chapter in an as-yet-unpublished book about the mail-order bride phenomenon, written by a Los Angeles immigration lawyer.
The attorney, William Livingston, said he's known Berkowitz for years after working on two attempts by the Santa Rosa man to get visas for his fiancees. It was Livingston who was contacted by the Banks show, and he alerted show producers to Berkowitz.
Livingston said for years he handled immigration work for clients of companies specializing in such romance tours and has traveled to Russia and the Baltic region many times himself.
He called the foreign bride process complex, with pitfalls for both unsuspecting women and men, including violent men and gold-digging women. Yet, he said, he's seen the process work.
"Mike is a good guy, but too generous and too naive," Livingston said. "If he keeps trying, sooner or later ... there are sincere women."
Berkowitz recently traveled for a week to Riga, the capital of Latvia, and met cosmetics saleswoman Tatiana, 35. While she speaks little English and he speaks few words of Russian, he says things look promising. He plans to return in a few weeks to see her again.
"Everything seems to be very good," he said. "I think this lady wants it to work."
If not?
"I'm moving on," he said.
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