Prosecutors want life term for Ohio Amish leader
BY JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press

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TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- Federal prosecutors want a life sentence for the leader of an Amish breakaway group convicted in a series of beard- and hair-cutting attacks, saying it's highly unlikely the attacks would have happened without his involvement.

Samuel Mullet Sr. not only orchestrated the attacks, but he also held absolute control over the members of his Amish settlement in eastern Ohio near the West Virginia panhandle, prosecutors said in court documents filed Tuesday.

Mullet is due to be sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Cleveland along with 15 others convicted in the hair-cuttings who live in the settlement. His attorney last week asked for a sentence of 18 months to two years.

The government said the cuttings were an attempt to shame members of the Amish community who Mullet believed were straying from their beliefs. His followers were found guilty of carrying out the attacks, which prosecutors say targeted hair because it carries spiritual significance in the Amish faith.