CLEVELAND, Ohio — The leader of an Amish splinter sect accused of cutting the beards of religious enemies has received more than $2 million for oil rights to his 800-acre farm, yet continues to be represented by a taxpayer-financed public defender, according to a new court filing.

Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to require Samuel Mullet to hire a private attorney and to reimburse his public defender for work provided over the past five months.

They also have asked that Mullet remain in jail pending his trial, citing fears that he and his followers might retreat to his farm and forcibly resist surrendering.

“The possibility of a violent encounter, this time with law enforcement, should not be readily dismissed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Bridget Brennan wrote in the motion. “Accordingly, no amount of bond is sufficient to protect others from this defendant’s capacity for aggression.”

U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster has not yet ruled on the prosecutors” motion. Read the full text of the motion in the DocumentCloud viewer.)

Mullet, 66, of Jefferson County, and 15 of his followers are accused of hate crimes and cover-ups for a series of assaults last fall involving forcibly cutting the beards and hair of fellow Amish members. The attacks were designed to settle scores with people with whom Mullet and his followers had disputes, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors accused Mullet of orchestrating the attacks, and have repeatedly argued against his release from jail pending a trial scheduled for Aug. 27.

Previous Plain Dealer coverage

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 (

In the latest court documents, the prosecutors cite the tremendous authority Mullet exerts over the members of his Amish sect, as well as the spiritual, emotional, psychological, and financial leverage he has over them. The prosecutors’ greatest fear, according to the motion, is that if released from jail, Mullet might surround himself with his family and devoted followers, and resist law enforcement efforts to ensure his appearance at trial.

“The evidence has demonstrated that this defendant and his followers have not embraced the traditional Amish principles on non-violence and forgiveness,” Brennan wrote.

Mullet's financial windfall came to light last month after investigators learned his wife had offered to pay $60,000 to one of their children to help pay off a home mortgage.

At about the same time, Mullet's lawyer, assistant federal public defender Edward Bryan, was seeking Mullet's release from jail on bond based on “new circumstances” — the receipt of more than $2 million for oil and gas leases on his expansive property in East-central Ohio near the Pennsylvania border.

Bryan, meanwhile, declined to submit to a court-ordered investigation into Mullet's finances by the U.S. Probation Office, while continuing to maintain that Mullet was indigent, said Brennan in court documents.

Bryan has offered to continue to represent Mullet at a discounted rate of $125 an hour — a proposal opposed by prosecutors.

“The public defender's office thus paved the way for this prospective multi-millionaire to receive the substantial benefits of legal representation at the discounted rate paid to appointed counsel for truly indigent defendants,” Brennan wrote.

In a telephone interview Friday, Bryan disputed the assertions in the motion, and accused prosecutors of unfairly portraying Mullet as a cult leader.

"All of that is based on rumor and innuendo and the government’s imagination," he said. "Anyone who knows this man knows that he’s a decent, honorable, caring human being. The government is trying to portray him as a David Koresh or Jim Jones character to gin up the case against him. He’s a good bishop and admired by anybody who knows him."

Bryan also said Mullet has pledged to reimburse the public defender’s office for legal expenses that now total $12,000 and has provided information about his personal finances.

"We’ve cooperated fully, and he submitted an updated financial affidavit when his circumstances changed."