Ex-US soldier accused of ‘international crime spree’ extradited from Ukraine

A former U.S. soldier has been extradited from Ukraine on charges alleging he went on an “international crime spree” beginning more than five years ago.

Craig Austin Lang, 34, made his first court appearance Monday in Fort Myers, Fla., related to numerous charges he faces across three federal districts, according to the Justice Department. The charges are in connection to double homicide, armed robbery, making false statements in a passport application and aggravated identity theft, among other charges.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri said Lang “went on an international crime spree” in a statement.

“Lang’s alleged conduct is shocking in its scope and its callous disregard for human life. His wrongdoing, however, was no match for the efforts of dedicated law enforcement personnel and prosecutors in the United States and abroad to investigate, locate, arrest, and extradite Lang so he would face justice before courts in the United States” Argentieri said. 

The department said he was extradited to the United States after the European Court of Human Rights rejected his claim to avoid extradition. He was escorted by the FBI to the U.S.

He faces charges in the Middle District of Florida, the Eastern District of North Carolina and the District of Arizona. The charges in Florida accuse Lang, along with co-defendant Alex Jared Zwiefelhofer, of murdering a couple in 2018.

Lang and Zwiefelhofer, who met in Ukraine in 2017, are accused of killing the couple during an armed robbery. The couple was allegedly looking to purchase firearms from Lang and Zwiefelhofer, but instead the two defendants stole the $3,000 the couple was going to buy the firearms with, prosecutors said.

He is charged in North Carolina with conspiracy to commit passport fraud and aggravated identify theft, along with other identity-related charges. The Justice Department said he was allegedly trying to avoid law enforcement detection and scrutiny while traveling internationally.

Lang is also charged with a misuse of a passport in Arizona for allegedly showing a U.S. passport to Mexican authorities to get a Mexican visa, according to the Justice Department.