BERGHOLZ, Ohio — In a stunning blow against religiously-motivated violence, Bishop Samuel Mullet Sr. and fifteen other members of the Amish community were sentenced to prison today for orchestrating a series of hate crimes against fellow Amish faith adherents.
The assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, along with the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio and the FBI Cleveland Field Office, announced the sentences, which followed a lengthy trial in September.
Samuel Mullet Sr., 67, the spiritual leader of the Bergholz Amish community, received a 15-year sentence for his role in orchestrating the attacks. His son, Johnny S. Mullet, 39; grandson, Lester Mullet, 28; and Levi F. Miller, 54, were each handed seven years. Other defendants included Daniel S. Mullet, 38; Lester Miller, 38; Emanuel Schrock, 44; Raymond Miller, 28; Linda Shrock, 45; Freeman Burkholder, 32; Anna Miller, 33; Elizabeth A. Miller, 38; Emma J. Miller, 38; Kathryn Miller, 23; and Lovina Miller, 33.
The convictions stem from a series of five assaults that took place between September and November 2011 in four Ohio counties. The defendants were accused of forcibly removing beards and head hair from Amish men and women as a form of religious discrimination, a violation of the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Samuel Mullet Sr. was found guilty of conspiracy to violate the act along with obstruction of justice charges for attempting to conceal evidence of the attacks. The jury also convicted several defendants of separate assaults and witness tampering.
The trial testimony revealed that Mullet Sr. exerted control over the Bergholz community through methods including taking other men’s wives as his own and overseeing corporal punishment, further demonstrating the organized nature of these hate crimes against the Amish faith.
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Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime|Public Corruption
- Source: Official Source ↗
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