(PatriotPostNews.com) – A former American soldier turned foreign fighter volunteer has been extradited from Ukraine after being linked to an “international crime spree,” federal prosecutors have announced.
34-year-old Craig Lang, who originally hails from Surprise, Arizona, is facing several charges that could land him in jail for the rest of his life. The suspect was brought back from Ukraine and first appeared in court on Monday, June 3, before a judge in Fort Myers, Florida.
Among his crimes is a double homicide, as prosecutors believe Lang killed a couple from Brooksville, Florida, back in 2018. The murders were allegedly committed alongside 27-year-old Alex Zwiefelhofer, who was found guilty of his involvement in March and will receive his sentence for the crime on August 6.
The two men, both of whom previously served the United States as soldiers, reportedly met in 2017 when they were in Ukraine, volunteering with a group combatting Russian separatists. According to prosecutors, the suspects went to Kenya, planning to combat terrorists. Later, they attempted to go to Sudan but were deported back to America.
Intending to raise money to travel to and fight the president of Venezuela, Lang and Zwiefelhofer tried to sell guns in America via “ARMSLIST.” The couple in Brooksville reportedly contacted them to do business, but the two men ended up killing them to steal the $3,000 they were going to pay for the firearms.
Additionally, Lang has been charged in North Carolina with trying to obtain a United States passport under a fake name in an effort to escape law enforcement. This offense allegedly occurred in September 2018, five months after he and his accomplice killed the Florida couple.
In a June 3 press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Timothy Langan of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stated that criminals like Lang and Zwiefelhofer “must face the consequences” of their crimes.
He added that the DOJ “relentlessly pursue[s]” those who act as they have, despite the potential obstacle of individuals being “located beyond our borders.”
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