(USNewsBreak.com) – Federal authorities have accused a former US soldier of going on an international crime spree. Prosecutors extradited Craig Austin Lang, 34, to Florida from Ukraine, where he claimed he was helping to fight the Russians. He stood before a court on Monday, June 3.
The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Public Affairs announced that Lang was in US custody. Prosecutors have charged him with multiple offenses in three different states. In Florida, authorities have accused him of murdering a couple in Brooksville, Florida, conspiracy and commission of interference with commerce by robbery, conspiracy to kill, kidnap, or maim persons in a foreign country, violating the Neutrality Act, and conspiracy and commission of discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
According to the DOJ, Lang had a partner in crime in the state. The two were accused of planning to steal money from a couple who thought they were buying firearms from the pair, killing them in the process. The two men planned to use the money to travel to Venezuela to fight as mercenaries. Prosecutors indicted him and 26-year-old Alex Jared Zwiefelhofer. Zwiefelhofer has already gone to trial, and a jury convicted him of all the charges Lang now faces. The former will face sentencing on August 6.
In North Carolina, Lang faces additional charges. These include conspiracy and commission of passport fraud, misuse of visas, permits, and other documents, aggravated identity theft, fraud, false representation of a social security number, and aiding and abetting. He and three co-conspirators allegedly worked together to obtain false documents that would allow them to travel to Ukraine. The other three suspects in the case have already pleaded guilty and received their sentences.
Then, in the District of Arizona, authorities charged Lang with misuse of a passport. In that instance, he tried to obtain a Mexican visa by presenting a US passport.
Lang has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him. If he’s convicted, he faces life in prison.
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