Revelation that Amish Leader is Millionaire Sparks Legal Battle
April 28, 2012CLEVELAND — A fierce legal battle is heating up between controversial Amish leader Sam Mullet and federal prosecutors over revelations that Mullet is a multi-millionaire.
Yet, the shunned sect leader has been represented since last October by a public defender, paid for by taxpayers.
Prosecutors said Mullet, 66, declared war on his fellow Amish bishops, after they voted to shun Mullet and his followers, amid allegations that include sexual abuse in a small enclave that Mullet founded in Bergholz, Ohio.
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April 19, 2012
16 Amish plead not guilty in Ohio hair attacks
The six women and 10 men are charged with hate crimes motivated by religious differences, conspiracy and assault.
The suspects are also accused of trying to destroy evidence, including shears, a bag of hair and a disposable camera.
Prosecutors say the attacks were part of a feud directed by a breakaway Amish bishop, Samuel Mullet.
The updated indictment also alleges that Mr Mullet lied to federal officials.
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April 18, 2012
The U.S. Justice Department says the prosecution of Amish sect leader Sam Mullet and 15 of his followers in Ohio under the federal hate crimes statute does not violate the U.S. Constitution and should proceed.
Lawyers for Mr. Mullet, 66, and the other defendants -- charged in Cleveland with orchestrating a series of beard-cutting attacks on other Amish -- have argued that the government's case should be dismissed because they say the 2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Act should not apply to a dispute within a religion.
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March 28, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged an additional four women with being involved in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio, and added new allegations that suspects tried to hide or destroy evidence including a bag of hair from the victims.
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March 21, 2012
CLEVELAND — The alleged ringleader in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio cannot rely on taxpayers to pay his legal bills, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Court Judge Dan Polster ruled that Samuel Mullet Sr., 66, who has a nearly 800-acre farm near Steubenville with oil and gas leases, can afford to pay his defense attorney.
Mullet has been represented by a public defender, Edward Bryan, but now must pay the going court rate of $125 hourly if he wants to keep him, the judge ruled.
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January 23, 2012
CLEVELAND — A breakaway Amish leader charged in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish complained Monday that the government is trying to demonize him to keep him locked up, but a judge again rejected pretrial release.
The attorney for Samuel Mullet Sr., 66, told the judge that the government is trying to invoke the memory of a deadly 1993 Waco, Texas, standoff in opposing Mullet's release.
U.S. District Dan Aaron Polster responded with a brief order rejecting the defense request to reconsider release on bond.
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Janaury 18, 2012
The jailed Amish bishop accused of spearheading a beard- and hair-cutting campaign against religious foes today told a federal judge that he is willing to install electricity in his home to accommodate an electronic monitoring device if granted bond before trial.
In a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Akron, Ohio, Samuel Mullet, 66, asks Judge Dan Polster to reconsider an order of detention originally entered following his arrest, along with several codefendants, last November.
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December 2, 2011
The man authorities accuse of leading a bizarre, violent Amish sect in eastern Ohio has been ordered held without bail, along with two of his sons and his son-in-law.
Sam Mullet, whom the local sheriff called 'evil,' was arrested last month and charged with orchestrating a spate of attacks that terrified the Amish community.
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November 23, 2011
CLEVELAND -- The FBI today arrested seven Amish men, charging them with hate crimes for cutting the hair and beards of other members of the Amish community in Holmes County because of a religious dispute, federal prosecutors announced today.
The men were taken into custody Wednesday morning at their compound in Bergholz, Ohio. The group is headed by Samuel Mullet Sr., who is the Bishop of an Amish sect known as the Bergholz Clan.
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November 18, 2011
An elderly Amish man had his hair and beard chopped off by his son and grandsons in the latest Ohio incident believed to be connected to a breakaway Amish group, police said on Friday.
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CLEVELAND -- The FBI confirms it has joined the investigation into the Amish beard-cutting attacks, looking at them as possible hate crimes. "We're looking at any potential federal violations, specifically any civil rights violations, because we take civil rights violations as a very serious matter," FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson told WKYC.
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Ohio authorities have charged three men with cutting off an Amish man's beard - an act degrading to the Amish - and promise more arrests in that case and three others, all said to involve members of a group of former Amish who have split from the main community.
Two of the three men are sons of Sam Mullet, 66, who heads the breakaway group that lives in a compound with houses, barns, outbuildings, and a schoolhouse in a valley near the Ohio River in Bergholz, Jefferson County.
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News & Testimonies"Thank you, Joe and Esther, for giving of your time and sharing with us about the MAP Ministry. We sure learned a lot about the Amish folks. I watched and have listened to the CD’s. I was impressed about your love and concern for the Amish People. My wife and I would like to support the ministry on a monthly basis. Will also pray for you’s. Thank you for the 1st class ministry that you run. "
