Mark Duncan / AP

Two Amish men talk to a security guard outside the United States Courthouse in Cleveland on Wednesday.

Jury deliberations started Thursday in the trial of an Amish leader and 15 followers who are accused of forcibly cutting the hair and beards of religious rivals.

Samuel J. Mullet Sr., a 66-year-old bishop for a group of Amish in Bergholz, Ohio, is accused of leading a group of 15 men and women in carrying out hair- and beard-cutting attacks against nine fellow Amish in Ohio last year. The Amish community's women and married men don't cut their hair and beards, because they are considered sacred symbols of righteousness, according to Reuters.

The 16 face charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, hate crimes and obstruction in U.S. District Court in Cleveland because the crimes were based on the "actual or perceived religion" of the victims, according to an affidavit. Prosecutors argue that they were motivated by religious disputes, Reuters reported.

Amy Sancetta / AP file

In this file photo, Amish bishop Sam Mullet is seen outside his home in Bergholz, Ohio, on Oct. 10, 2011.

Though Mullet was not present during the attacks, prosecutors allege he organized the effort, it said.

Previous story: Hate crime trial under way in Amish beard-cutting trial

"He is different from everyone else. He didn't get any blood or hair on himself, but none of the terror would have happened without him," Reuters quoted U.S. Attorney Kristy Parker as saying.

Attorneys for the defendants acknowledge the crimes did happen but say it may be going too far to call them hate crimes, the AP reported.

Mullet's attorney, Ed Bryan, characterized the prosecutors' presentation as reading like a movie script.

"This isn't a grand conspiracy," he told Reuters. "They are trying to hold him accountable for crimes he didn't commit."

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In closing arguments Wednesday, a federal prosecutor told the jury that Mullet had waged a "campaign of terror," and the nine victims' beards and hair were sheared "like animals," The Plain Dealer in Cleveland reported. 

If convicted, the defendants could face up to life in prison, according to Reuters.

NBC News' Kari Huus, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Amy Sancetta / AP file

Sam Mullet outside his home in Bergholz, Ohio, on Oct. 10, 2011.

Prosecutors will begin arguing their case Tuesday in the federal hate-crime trial of an Amish leader and 15 followers accused of forcibly cutting the beards or hair of their religious enemies last fall. 

A jury was selected on Monday for the case being heard in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, The Associated Press reported. 

Samuel J. Mullet Sr. and his co-defendants, all but one of them relatives, face charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, hate crimes and obstruction, "because of actual or perceived religion" of the victims, according to an affadavit.

Sixteen men and women are accused in three separate attacks on nine people. Mullet, 66, is accused of being the ringleader of the assaults although authorities say he was not present during any of them, according to Reuters.

Prosecutors will seek to show that Mullet had cult leader-like control over the members of the  Amish clan who allegedly engaged in the attacks. 

Some of the alleged victims are parents of some of the suspects, highlighting a bitter dispute within the Amish community, which is normally known for its pacifism.

Federal prosecutors say the attacks were revenge in a dispute between Mullet — leader  of a group of Amish in Bergholz, Ohio, that had separated from the larger Amish community 17 years ago — and other Amish bishops, according to an FBI affadavit.

Read the affidavit

A gathering of 300 mainstream Amish overturned Mullet’s decision to excommunicate eight families after they left his clan in 2005, prompting Mullet and his followers to launch the attacks, the affidavit said.

In the forcible cutting of the victims’ hair and beards with 8-inch horse mane-cutting shears, some of the victims were wounded and bloodied, the affidavit said. 

In Amish culture, men’s beard hair and women’s head hair have religious significance.

If convicted, Mullet could get life in prison, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. 

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