US soldier-turned-mercenary extradited from Ukraine, facing charges including murder

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A former U.S. soldier who became a foreign fighter in Ukraine appeared in a Florida federal court on Monday to face charges in three federal districts relating to several crimes, including a double homicide and armed robbery.

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Craig Austin Lang, 34, of Surprise, Arizona, made his first appearance in Fort Myers following his extradition from Ukraine, the Fort Myers News-Press reported.

According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Lang faces criminal charges in the Middle District of Florida, the Eastern District of North Carolina, and the District of Arizona. They include crimes related to a double homicide, armed robbery, false statements in a passport application, aggravated identity theft and misuse of a passport in violation of conditions and restrictions.

Lang’s extradition came after the European Court of Human Rights rejected his claim challenging extradition under the European Convention on Human Rights, the News-Press reported.

According to the superseding indictment returned in the Middle District of Florida in December 2019 and other court documents, Lang and a co-defendant, Alex Jared Zwiefelhofer, 27, of Bloomer, Wisconsin, allegedly murdered a couple from Brooksville, Florida, in 2018, the Department of Justice release stated.

The two former U.S. Army soldiers met in Ukraine in 2017, where Zwiefelhofer claimed they were both members of a volunteer battalion fighting Russian separatists, WRAL-TV reported. The men allegedly also traveled to Kenya before attempting to enter South Sudan, federal prosecutors said.

They were detained by authorities in South Sudan and were deported to the United States, and Lang and Zwiefelhofer met in Florida in April 2018.

The superseding indictment alleged that the Brooksville couple, identified as Serafin Lorenzo Jr. and Deana K. Lorenzo, planned to buy firearms Lang and Zwiefelhofer listed for sale on a website called “ARMSLIST,” the News-Press reported.

Prosecutors alleged that Lang and Zwiefelhofer killed the couple in an armed robbery in Estero, Florida, to steal the $3,000 that the victims had to purchase the firearms, according to the newspaper. Authorities said the pair robbed the Lorenzos to travel to Venezuela, where Lang and Zwiefelhofer planned to fight the Venezuelan leadership, prosecutors said.

According to federal prosecutors in Florida, Lang and Zwiefelhofer were charged with violating the Neutrality Act; conspiracy to kill, kidnap, or maim persons in a foreign country; conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery; and conspiracy to discharge a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, as well as interference with commerce by robbery and use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence causing death.

On March 8, a federal jury convicted Zwiefelhofer on all of the above charges. He will be sentenced on Aug. 6 and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

According to an indictment returned in the Eastern District of North Carolina in August 2019, Lang and his co-conspirators attempted to evade detection by law enforcement officials and attempted to apply for passports under assumed names, prosecutors said.

According to WRAL, Lang was charged with conspiracy to commit passport fraud and aggravated identify theft; passport fraud; aggravated identity theft, fraud, and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents; and aiding and abetting these offenses, as well as false representation of a Social Security account number.

If convicted, Lang faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison, the television station reported.

According to the District of Arizona, Lang was charged in June 2019 with misuse of a passport for allegedly presenting a U.S. passport to Mexican authorities to obtain a Mexican visa, prosecutors said. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

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