10 Crazy Real-Life Stories of Amish Gone Bad

If you think living in Amish country is all about Bible meetings and tending to one's barn, think again. Turn on the tube on just about any night and you’ll find plenty of Amish folk behaving in very un-Christian-like ways, from TLC’s Breaking Amish, in which five young Amish people move to New York City (with all its western-world temptations), to Cinemax’s bonkers new series Banshee, the Alan Ball-produced action-drama about an ex-con posing as a murdered sheriff in Pennsylvania Amish country, which premiered on Friday.

While even the so-called “reality” shows in this recent surge of like-minded programming are populated with a good deal of fiction, here are 10 Crazy Real-Life Examples of Amish Gone Bad.

RELATED: The 25 Craziest Real-Life American Horror Stories
RELATED: The 15 Best Portrayals of Real-Life Gangsters in Movies
RELATED: The 10 Craziest Real-Life Crimes Committed in the Name of Satan
RELATED: 15 True Story Movies Worth Watching

Written by Jennifer Wood (@j_m_wood)

Amish gone bad: Levi King Stoltzfus, a.k.a. Lebanon Levi

On Discovery Channel's hit new reality series Amish Mafia, Levi is the head of a seemingly nefarious team of Amish enforcers intent on preserving their way of life. While the show paints Levi as something of a Tony Soprano-esque figure, the truth is far less scandalous.

Yes, Levi (birth name: Levi King Stoltzfus) has had his fair share of run-ins with the law. Yet all but one of them have stemmed from his penchant for hitting the sauce before hitting the road. Not the sort of rap sheet you'd expect from a mob boss in the western world, huh?

Amish gone bad: Samuel Mullet Sr., Johnny Mullet, Daniel Mullet, Lester Mullet, Levi Miller, Eli Miller, Emanuel Shrock, Lester Miller, Anna Miller, Linda Shrock, Emma Miller, Kathryn Miller, Lovina Miller, Raymond Miller, Freeman Burkholder, Elizabeth Miller & Kathryn Miller

On September 20, 2012 a federal jury found Samuel Mullet Sr. and 15 of his renegade followers guilty of hate crimes after a bizarre series of hair- and beard-cutting incidents in Ohio. Mullet (yes, the leader of this barbaric group of barbers is named Mullet).

His cronies took it upon themselves to re-educate the more mainstream members of his sect, whom they believed weren't living as simple a life as God intended. The group pulled out the scissors because of the spiritual significance hair holds in the Amish community; women do not cut their hair because the Bible considers long hair "a glory," while married men do not shave their beards. The defendants each face more than 10 years in prison.

Amish gone bad: Willard Yoder

First things first: Willard Yoder has probably never seen an episode of To Catch a Predator. So how was he to know that the mother of the 12-year-old girl to whom he was texting (yes, texting) sexually explicit messages and photos would go to the authorities?

In 2011, after being alerted to Yoder's attempts to solicit sex from a minor, police in Indiana took over the texting and arranged a restaurant rendezvous with the 21-year-old Amish man, who showed up for the date with his horse and buggy. Fortunately, he didn't try to run and quickly copped to his crimes.

Amish gone bad: Levi Detweiler

In what sounds like a headline from The Onion, 17-year-old Levi Detweiler did a very, very bad job of eluding police when the shitfaced Amish teen to outrun a police car...in his trusty horse and buggy.

After a Leon, New York police officer attempted to pull Detweiler over for not stopping at a stop sign, the tipsy teenager led the cop a not-so-high-speed chase that lasted less than a mile. Clearly unaware that buggies can't make hairpin turns, Detweiler crashed his wheels into a drive way then tried to outrun the cops on foot. He was quickly caught and charged with failure to stop at a stop sign, reckless endangerment, underage possession of alcohol, and overdriving an animal. That last offense isn't one of our witty kickers, either. It really happened.

Amish gone bad: Daniel Allgyer

With all the disgusting shit that finds its way into our food supply, you'd think the FDA had its plate full in the spring of 2010. But that didn't stop them from spending two years trying to take down an Amish farmer for—gasp!—selling unpasteurized milk. Across state lines, no less.

The federales swooped in and made a surprise 5 a.m. inspection on Daniel Allgyer and his Rainbow Acres Farm following a full-scale investigation into the Pennsylvania farmer, who had been selling raw milk to a long list of happy customers for more than six years. The FDA didn't relent, though, stating that unpasteurized milk isn't safe to drink and that it was well within their legal authority to shut Allgyer's business down. Lesson learned: Don't mess with the FDA!

Amish gone bad: Jacob Gingerich, Emanuel Yoder, Levi Zook, Menno Zook, Eli Zook, David Zook, Mose Yoder, Levi Hostetler & Danny Byler

We're guessing there must be plenty of open jail space in Graves County, Kentucky. How else would one explain how nine members of the Old Order Swartzentruber Amish sect spent three to 10 days apiece in the clink because of their refusal to pay fines associated with their refusal to attach orange safety triangles to the backs of their horse-drawn buggies?

That's a lot of refusals. But the nine men claimed that the garish color went against their religion, which does not allow for the display of bright colors. Ironically, their jailers respected these same beliefs enough that the men were issued dark-colored jumpsuits, instead of the standard orange, to wear during their stays.

Amish gone bad: Monroe Beachy

Meet Monroe Beachy, the 76-year-old investment banker who bilked 2,700 clients out of nearly $17 million over the course two decades. Included among Beachy's victims was the Amish Helping Fund, a nonprofit real estate lending organization dedicated to preserving the Amish way of life, of which Beachy was treasurer.

Investors—most of whom were Amish or Mennonite—didn't even wise up to the Ponzi scheme when their monthly statements arrived in Beachy's own handwriting. In June 2012, a judge sentenced Beachy to six-and-a-half years in prison, followed by a year of probation. His request to serve out the sentence under house arrest was quickly rejected.

Amish gone bad: Edward Gingerich

Plenty of American traditions have no place in Amish society—mustaches, divorce, and murder are among them. But 20 years ago, Edward Gingerich became the first and only Amish man convicted of murder after he beat his wife to death and then disemboweled her... all in front of their two young children.

Because he was considered mentally ill, Gingerich was convicted on the much lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison (of which he served all of it). In 2007, Gingerich was in the news again when he attempted to kidnap his 15-year-old daughter from his parents, who gained custody of the children following his conviction.

In early 2011, Gingerich hung himself inside a barn in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania.

Amish gone bad: Chester Mast

OK, so let's put the irony out there for all to see: Chester is a molester. In 2010, 26-year-old Chester Mast was accused of sexually assaulting five female minors in both his home state of Missouri as well as in Wisconsin.

Though he had no previous record, Mast was charged with two counts of statutory rape, two counts of sodomy, and one count of sexual misconduct involving a child in Missouri. The Wisconsin charges included sexual assault and incest (the victim was his cousin). Police were tipped off to Mast's attacks by members of his conservative Amish sect in Missouri, proving that the Amish don't always believe in taking matters into their own hands.

Amish gone bad: Isaac Yoder

Isaac Yoder is one Amish man who cannot shun technology, even if he wanted to. In early 2012, the registered sex offender—who had served three years in prison for a previous sexual assault—was arrested once again when the GPS bracelet he was required to wear alerted police that he had violated his parole.

The 26-year-old Wisconsin resident was hauled back to jail when he assaulted a 14-year-old girl in her own bedroom. Soon after, he was caught by the girl's family. Yoder didn't deny the charges, which included two felony counts of sexual assault of a child and felony burglary.