Previous Plain Dealer coverage

Federal prosecutors, defense lawyers debate religious motivation for Amish beard-cutting attacks (

Prosecution, defense both rest in Amish beard-cutting trial of Sam Mullet and 15 followers (

Amish defendant lured wary parents to his home, then sheared his father's beard, chopped his hair (

Rival Amish bishop testifies he feared 'cultlike' activities of Sam Mullet's clan (

Prosecution begins 2nd week in pursuit of Samuel Mullet Sr. hate-crimes conviction (

Sam Mullet's daughter-in-law describes seduction by bishop of Amish beard-cutters (

Amish beard-cutting trial attracts international attention

Prosecutors say jury should hear Amish leader's sexual activities with his followers (

Lawyers clash over Amish shearings case as trial looms Aug. 27 (

Members of fringe Amish group request word 'cult' be banned from hate-crime trial (

Trumbull County minister supporting Amish beard-cutting suspects accuses U.S. marshals of intimidation (

Amish beard-cutting suspect loses bid for release from jail (

Ex-clergyman familiar with Amish community has online petition seeking release of Sam Mullet from prison (

Amish beard-cutting defendant has taxpayer-subsidized lawyer despite millions in the bank, prosecutors say (

Samuel Mullet Sr., 15 followers appear in court to face new charges of Amish beard-cutting (

Lawyers for Amish in beard cutting case say hate crimes law unconstitutional (

Prosecutors make new allegations against 12 Ohio Amish in connection with beard cutting (

Amish son cuts father's beard in new incident related to breakaway group (

Beard-cutting attacks bring national attention to Ohio's Amish (

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Federal prosecutors today urged a judge to sentence Amish bishop Samuel Mullet to life in prison for coordinating a series of beard-cutting attacks on victims who shunned the bishop and his teachings.

"Plainly stated, Samuel Mullet Sr. should be sentenced to a life term of imprisonment because, but for Samuel Mullet Sr., it is highly unlikely any of his co-defendants would have engaged in violent and obstructive behavior," wrote assistant U.S. attorneys Bridget Brennan and Kristy Parker.

(Read the full sentencing memorandum in the document viewer below).

"Samuel Mullet Sr.'s control over the Bergholz community was -- and is -- absolute. He was able to get men to surrender their wives to him. Wives would be forced to leave their small children and live in Mullet Sr.'s home so that they could be available to him."

The 25-page document was filed just days before U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster sentences the 67-year-old Mullet and 15 family members and followers Friday. Brennan and Parker said Mullet agreed with and openly encouraged a campaign of terror.

"There is no doubt that Mullet Sr. wanted, agreed with and encouraged all of these attacks," the prosecutors wrote. "And for that reason, it is remarkable that he continues to deny his own culpability while throwing the other defendants under the proverbial bus, especially when some of these defendants are his children, his nephews and his clergymen."

The document offers a sharp contrast to one filed by defense attorney Edward Bryan, who urged Polster to sentence Mullet to a prison term of two years or less, based on the minimal harm to the victims.

Mullet did not participate in the five hair and beard shearings in 2011, but a federal jury last year convicted him of hate crimes for knowing about the assaults and failing to stop them from occurring.

Witnesses likened the bishop's ultraconservative Amish sect in Jefferson County, 100 miles southeast of Cleveland, to a cult that had turned its back on the religion's nonviolent traditions.

Last fall's hate crimes trial offered a rare glimpse into Ohio's reclusive and peaceful Amish community. The proceeding was an unprecedented application of a landmark 2009 federal law that expanded government powers to prosecute hate crimes and attracted national and international attention.

Prosecutors have characterized Mullet as an iron-fisted bishop who exerted total control over his flock: He censored his followers' mail, had sex with married women under the guise of marital counseling, endorsed bizarre punishments such as confinement in chicken coops and spankings, and laughed at the attacks, which were driven by a crusade to punish those who spurned his teachings, prosecutors said.