LOS ANGELES (MCT) — Sixteen members of a schismatic Amish group were convicted Thursday of federal hate crimes in connection with a series of attacks that included cutting the beards and hair of their co-religionists.

A Cleveland jury of seven men and five women deliberated for four days before convicting Samuel Mullet Sr., 66, of orchestrating at least five attacks in 2011 on other Amish, a pacifist religion whose members are noted for their plain dress and their reluctance to embrace modern technology.