LEE COUNTY, Fla. — A 35-year-old man, convicted of killing a a couple in Estero during a fake gun sale to fund his plans to fight the Venezuelan government, has been sentenced to consecutive life sentences in federal prison.
Craig Austin Lang of Kyiv, Ukraine, was convicted in September of conspiracy to commit robbery, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, robbery interfering with commerce, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence which resulted in death, conspiring to kill persons in a foreign country, and violating the Neutrality Act.
Fox 4 has covered this case extensively. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the couple in Estero were found dead from gunshot wounds on April 10, 2018 in the Galleria complex off Corkscrew Road. The couple had traveled from Brooksville, Florida to complete the purchase of several firearms from someone who had listed them for sale on a website called Armslist, the Department of Justice said.
The investigation revealed Lang was one of two people who murdered the couple during an armed robbery of the $3,000 they had brought to buy the firearms, prosecutors said.
The next year, Lang was back in Ukraine where he joined what some have described as a fringe, right-wing extremist militia fighting against the Russians, federal documents explained.
According to federal documents, Lang is an Army deserter who left the US to fight in Ukraine against pro-Russian forces back in 2015.
That’s where he met fellow Army deserter Alex Zwiefelhofer.
The two traveled the globe, from the battlefield of Europe to Africa, fighting in wars and skirmishes.
By 2018, needing money to fund more foreign fights, prosecutors said the pair came to an Estero parking lot looking to sell an arsenal of weapons.
Lang planned to fight the Venezuelan government and committed the robbery to obtain money to fund his travel to Venezuela.
Lang's co-defendant, Zwiefelhofer, was previously convicted at trial in 2024 and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
According to the DOJ, Lang was indicted on December 4, 2019, and extradited from Ukraine to the United States in 2024.
Lang has apparent ties to U.S. soldier Jarrett William Smith, who was arrested by the FBI for a plot to bomb a news network and allegedly targeting presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke.
According to ABC News, authorities said Lang was a "mentor" to Smith, and the pair have been in contact since 2016.
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