Former Soldier Sentenced for Double Murder During Robbery

A former U.S. soldier has been handed two life sentences for the murder of a couple in Florida. This shocking crime was part of a robbery scheme that was meant to fund a trip to Venezuela aimed at fighting against President Nicolas Maduro’s government, the Justice Department revealed on Tuesday.

Craig Austin Lang, aged 35, was convicted in September of several federal charges, including robbery and conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country. He had previously been extradited from Ukraine after volunteering to battle Russian separatists.

Nicole Argentieri, the chief assistant attorney general in the criminal division at the Justice Department, expressed that Lang’s actions demonstrated a disturbing level of callousness towards human life.

Federal authorities indicated that Lang and another veteran, Alex Jared Zwiefelhofer, murdered Serafin “Danny” Lorenzo Jr. and his wife, Deanna Lorenzo, in April 2018. The couple, who were traveling from Brooksville to Estero, had intended to meet the two men under the impression that it was a gun purchase through the Armslist online marketplace.

Reportedly, the men ambushed the Lorenzos in a parking lot, shot them multiple times, and made off with $3,000. The robbery was conducted to finance their trip to Venezuela, where they aimed to align themselves with a paramilitary group.

According to reports, Lang was dishonorably discharged from the Army in 2014 and later joined the far-right Ukrainian nationalist group Right Sector two years afterward.

Both Lang and Zwiefelhofer had previous combat experience in Ukraine and planned to continue their involvement in other conflicts. Zwiefelhofer was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in 2024.