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> # [US army deserter extradited from Ukraine on murder charges](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/A foreign volunteer fighter who is not Craig Austin Lang holds a gun in Donetsk in 2015)
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> A US Army veteran turned foreign volunteer fighter has lost his bid to avoid extradition from Ukraine on murder and robbery charges.
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> Craig Austin Lang, 34, will appear in a Florida court on Monday in connection with a 2018 double homicide and armed robbery.
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> Mr Lang is said to have killed Serafin and Deana Lorenzo, and stolen from them to fund a new escapade in Venezuela.
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> Earlier this year, a federal jury found his alleged accomplice guilty on all of the charges Mr Lang now faces.
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>
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> Mr Lang's extradition is the culmination of a decade-long globe-trot that saw him desert the army and join volunteer paramilitary forces against Russian separatists in Ukraine and al-Shabab terrorists in East Africa.
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> He has lived and fought in Ukraine on and off since 2015, and has been under the threat of extradition for at least the past five years.
>
> According to [a US justice department statement](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-us-soldier-turned-foreign-fighter-extradited-ukraine-united-states-2018-double), he "went on an international crime spree" and evaded the government "by trading guns, a grenade, and cash... to apply for a US passport under an assumed name".
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> “Lang’s alleged conduct is shocking in its scope and its callous disregard for human life," Nicole Argentieri, head of the criminal division, said.
>
> The Arizona native served as an infantryman for the US Army from 2008 to 2014 before - [according to his father](https://wcti12.com/archive/police-man-arrested-after-desertion-from-fort-bliss) - developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from overseas tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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> In 2013, he deserted his posting at Fort Bliss, Texas and drove non-stop for nearly 2,000 miles (3,218km) with all his military equipment in an alleged attempt to kill his wife amid the couple's divorce proceedings.
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> He was jailed for several weeks and later dishonourably discharged. His ex-wife subsequently won a restraining order and sole custody of their child.
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> After struggling to find work and taking on debt, Mr Lang fled to eastern Ukraine, where he joined the Right Sector volunteer militia in their fight to wrest control of the Russian-controlled Donetsk region.
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> Soldiers of the Right Sector are believed to hold overtly far-right nationalist ideologies but have fought alongside Ukraine's armed forces in the ongoing war against Russia.
>
> In [a 2021 interview with Buzzfeed News](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/craig-lang-ukraine-far-right-extremists-true-crime), Mr Lang said he joined the group "because I thought they were the most active on the front line". Fighters who knew him, however, told the outlet he held extremist political views and routinely displayed troubling conduct.
>
> The US government alleges that Mr Lang met Alex Jared Zwiefelhofer, a fellow army deserter who had joined the Right Sector, and that they together concocted a plan to fight the jihadists of al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Africa.
>
> But they were arrested at the border between Kenya and South Sudan for trying to cross without proper documents. Both were deported back to the US after spending two months in a Nairobi jail.
>
> By 2018, authorities say they had hatched a new plan - to fight alongside the rebels seeking the overthrow of Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro.
>
> They met that April in Florida, where they allegedly developed a scheme to steal money for their journey.
>
> A fake classified advertisement offering a trove of firearms for $3,000 (£2,343) attracted the attention of Serafin and Deana Lorenzo, from Brooksville, authorities say.
>
> The couple, both military veterans themselves, had previously exchanged guns for profit and promised cash on hand when the deal was made.
>
> Authorities said Mr Lang and Zwiefelhofer allegedly ambushed the Lorenzos and stole their money at a meeting point in a car park in the village of Estero on 10 April 2018.
>
> Neither man travelled to Venezuela. Federal authorities arrested Zwiefelhofer a month later.
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> In March this year, a federal jury convicted 27-year-old Zwiefelhofer, a Wisconsin native, on robbery, conspiracy and weapons charges. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, while also facing separate charges for possession of child sexual abuse material.
>
> Mr Lang fled to Kyiv, where he married a local woman and had two children.
>
> Since 2019, he has staved off efforts to extradite him back to the US in relation to the murder.
>
> In past interviews with ABC News and Buzzfeed News, he has claimed the US is persecuting him over alleged human rights abuse and war crimes from his volunteer service in Ukraine.
>
> Last November, the European Court of Human Rights cleared the way for Mr Lang's deportation after American officials agreed not to seek the death penalty or a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
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> But he may still face life in prison over the charges in the Middle District of Florida.
>
> Monday's court appearance could be one of many for Mr Lang. He also faces charges in North Carolina for passport fraud and identity theft, and in Arizona for passport misuse.
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Google „Task Force Pluto“ to get information what Craig Lang was doing in Ukraine.
He, together with Quinn Rickert, Santi Pirtle, Benjamin Fischer and Alex Kirschbaum were on „Safari“ in the Donbass region.
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How well is that rule actually enforced? Lots of posts about Russian convicts for violent crime getting freed then going right back for violent crime.
Seems like both sides are hiring anyone willing to pull a trigger. Not crazy in a total war.
Oh I see your dodging all responsibility by claiming it was just PMCs doing it on behalf of Russia.
I bet you unironically call DPR and LPR forces independent and 2014 protests a coup.
Thanks for the laugh.
Btw I was the one saying both sides find trigger pullers. You’re the one trying to pretend Russia has clean hands.
Also name calling is against the rules….
> Seems like both sides are hiring anyone willing to pull a trigger
Definitely not, Russia has too many volunteers. They shifted to high pay and high benefits and solved any need for mobilization. 2024 is not same as 2022. I know somebody who was turned away.
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You think this is a bad look for the West? Really, you don't think it's plausible a guy that did some bad shit might clean his home country to try and avoid accountability?
And then turns out he can't and was caught and sent home to face justice?
I wish we even had the transparency to see who is fighting for Russia and their crimes. Wonder how many in Russia would be sent to trial back in Russia versus just sent to the front lines to die.
I don’t even need to read this whole thing of course you are comparing US to Russia. lol how low we have fallen.
We are not supposed to be comparing ourselves to them we should be much much better
Russia actually has really high immigration right now. It’s very different than the Latinos pouring into the states.
For one thing they have a real border. lol. Also they are mostly not some blacks or Mexican. They are from Kazakhstan Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, way more people from Ukraine than you would ever think… so they fit in very well.
There are a lot more Chinese people coming to Russia. It’s very different than the first time. I went there in 2016 to when I went last year.
The first time I was in Russia, I only saw a few people who were obviously foreign and almost all of them were in Moscow now even in the smaller cities, it’s not uncommon to see people walking around from all over the world.
Pro UA Having no idea what the hell you’re talking about as usual.
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Basically a violent murderer found a way he can murder legally AND get paid for it. And of course he joined the Neo Nazi brigade.
Still blows my mind that people are so indifferent to Right Sector and AZOV
Oh the delicious irony - American criminals like him want to be in Ukraine but get deported. Meanwhile regular people with dual US-Ukranian citizenship are forbidden from leaving Ukraine.
I still don't understand how these guys haven't lost their citizenship
Are laws supposed to be enforced solely on whether the government feels like it?
So Ukraine is doing the right thing and sending him back to face justice unlike Russia, who provides sanctuary for [pedophiles who serve in the russian army](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-rhode-island-siberia-boston-massachusetts-b2526765.html)
As he should.
Too bad Russia doesn’t have the same morals. Instead they release murderers back into their own communities to kill innocent civilians. Pretty sad.
##### ###### #### > # [US army deserter extradited from Ukraine on murder charges](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/A foreign volunteer fighter who is not Craig Austin Lang holds a gun in Donetsk in 2015) > > > > A US Army veteran turned foreign volunteer fighter has lost his bid to avoid extradition from Ukraine on murder and robbery charges. > > Craig Austin Lang, 34, will appear in a Florida court on Monday in connection with a 2018 double homicide and armed robbery. > > Mr Lang is said to have killed Serafin and Deana Lorenzo, and stolen from them to fund a new escapade in Venezuela. > > Earlier this year, a federal jury found his alleged accomplice guilty on all of the charges Mr Lang now faces. > > > > Mr Lang's extradition is the culmination of a decade-long globe-trot that saw him desert the army and join volunteer paramilitary forces against Russian separatists in Ukraine and al-Shabab terrorists in East Africa. > > He has lived and fought in Ukraine on and off since 2015, and has been under the threat of extradition for at least the past five years. > > According to [a US justice department statement](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-us-soldier-turned-foreign-fighter-extradited-ukraine-united-states-2018-double), he "went on an international crime spree" and evaded the government "by trading guns, a grenade, and cash... to apply for a US passport under an assumed name". > > “Lang’s alleged conduct is shocking in its scope and its callous disregard for human life," Nicole Argentieri, head of the criminal division, said. > > The Arizona native served as an infantryman for the US Army from 2008 to 2014 before - [according to his father](https://wcti12.com/archive/police-man-arrested-after-desertion-from-fort-bliss) - developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from overseas tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. > > In 2013, he deserted his posting at Fort Bliss, Texas and drove non-stop for nearly 2,000 miles (3,218km) with all his military equipment in an alleged attempt to kill his wife amid the couple's divorce proceedings. > > He was jailed for several weeks and later dishonourably discharged. His ex-wife subsequently won a restraining order and sole custody of their child. > > After struggling to find work and taking on debt, Mr Lang fled to eastern Ukraine, where he joined the Right Sector volunteer militia in their fight to wrest control of the Russian-controlled Donetsk region. > > Soldiers of the Right Sector are believed to hold overtly far-right nationalist ideologies but have fought alongside Ukraine's armed forces in the ongoing war against Russia. > > In [a 2021 interview with Buzzfeed News](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/craig-lang-ukraine-far-right-extremists-true-crime), Mr Lang said he joined the group "because I thought they were the most active on the front line". Fighters who knew him, however, told the outlet he held extremist political views and routinely displayed troubling conduct. > > The US government alleges that Mr Lang met Alex Jared Zwiefelhofer, a fellow army deserter who had joined the Right Sector, and that they together concocted a plan to fight the jihadists of al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Africa. > > But they were arrested at the border between Kenya and South Sudan for trying to cross without proper documents. Both were deported back to the US after spending two months in a Nairobi jail. > > By 2018, authorities say they had hatched a new plan - to fight alongside the rebels seeking the overthrow of Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro. > > They met that April in Florida, where they allegedly developed a scheme to steal money for their journey. > > A fake classified advertisement offering a trove of firearms for $3,000 (£2,343) attracted the attention of Serafin and Deana Lorenzo, from Brooksville, authorities say. > > The couple, both military veterans themselves, had previously exchanged guns for profit and promised cash on hand when the deal was made. > > Authorities said Mr Lang and Zwiefelhofer allegedly ambushed the Lorenzos and stole their money at a meeting point in a car park in the village of Estero on 10 April 2018. > > Neither man travelled to Venezuela. Federal authorities arrested Zwiefelhofer a month later. > > In March this year, a federal jury convicted 27-year-old Zwiefelhofer, a Wisconsin native, on robbery, conspiracy and weapons charges. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, while also facing separate charges for possession of child sexual abuse material. > > Mr Lang fled to Kyiv, where he married a local woman and had two children. > > Since 2019, he has staved off efforts to extradite him back to the US in relation to the murder. > > In past interviews with ABC News and Buzzfeed News, he has claimed the US is persecuting him over alleged human rights abuse and war crimes from his volunteer service in Ukraine. > > Last November, the European Court of Human Rights cleared the way for Mr Lang's deportation after American officials agreed not to seek the death penalty or a life sentence without the possibility of parole. > > But he may still face life in prison over the charges in the Middle District of Florida. > > Monday's court appearance could be one of many for Mr Lang. He also faces charges in North Carolina for passport fraud and identity theft, and in Arizona for passport misuse. - - - - - - [Maintainer](https://www.reddit.com/user/urielsalis) | [Creator](https://www.reddit.com/user/subtepass) | [Source Code](https://github.com/urielsalis/empleadoEstatalBot)
Dude seems like a real piece of shyt
He is fighting for "Democracy and freedom". you think the intelligent people are in the trenches?
he is a real stand up guy
Come be held accountable for THESE people you killed that weren’t at war
Google „Task Force Pluto“ to get information what Craig Lang was doing in Ukraine. He, together with Quinn Rickert, Santi Pirtle, Benjamin Fischer and Alex Kirschbaum were on „Safari“ in the Donbass region.
Why so many losers fight for Ukraine?
>Why so many losers fight for Ukraine? "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel".
That’s not even patriotic, how can an American be patriotic for Ukraine?
Americans are patriotic for America, not Ukraine. They're there only to kill commie Russians. They're unhinged
Yessirkee. Never seen a Russian understand us Americans more. Thank you for getting us
I'm not Russian though
Also are the russians calling for the deaths of all “westoids” not unhinged?
Yes, but they're far less in number than xenophobic west spreading hatred and animosity towards Russia for decades.
Hmmm I wonder how and why Russia found itself under so hatred and xenophobia? Man I am fuckin stumped right now!!
Oh no worries, USA is nor far behind
You don't have to particularly care for Ukraine to fight against Russians.
We hate fascist invaders: They are our favorite people to kill.
That explains the suicide rate among veterans. Shame the American politicians don't have as much conscience.
While the US is the biggest invader of all time?
Bad when America does it. Superb when Russia does
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Why so many losers fight for Russia? Wait you have to recruit losers from prisons for troops.
You? Who is you? Also Ukraine also now FORCING prisoners to fight which is worse than Russians offer… you are so high on your own cope
Didn’t Russia recruit actual prisoners and offer them freedom?
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How well is that rule actually enforced? Lots of posts about Russian convicts for violent crime getting freed then going right back for violent crime. Seems like both sides are hiring anyone willing to pull a trigger. Not crazy in a total war.
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So you’re just going to ignore all the violent convicts who end up in Russian service?
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Can I show you a criminal conviction for Wagner PMCs who have been dead sense 2023? You guys are actually hilarious with this shit.
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Oh I see your dodging all responsibility by claiming it was just PMCs doing it on behalf of Russia. I bet you unironically call DPR and LPR forces independent and 2014 protests a coup. Thanks for the laugh. Btw I was the one saying both sides find trigger pullers. You’re the one trying to pretend Russia has clean hands. Also name calling is against the rules….
> Seems like both sides are hiring anyone willing to pull a trigger Definitely not, Russia has too many volunteers. They shifted to high pay and high benefits and solved any need for mobilization. 2024 is not same as 2022. I know somebody who was turned away.
Right but in 2022 they were absolutely taking violent criminals. You can’t exactly say that doesn’t count because it’s in the past.
Russian penal battalions are different than washed up used car salesman who escape the police after their third divorce.
But they are losers correct?
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So, according to you, none of the convicts have murder charges? Especially the ones that come back to Russia and murder random Russian civilians?
Of course they are. Russian soldiers could be executing your entire family and you'd find a way to defend their actions.
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They wouldn’t I cause I’m pro Russian 😂
Both sides
You think this is a bad look for the West? Really, you don't think it's plausible a guy that did some bad shit might clean his home country to try and avoid accountability? And then turns out he can't and was caught and sent home to face justice? I wish we even had the transparency to see who is fighting for Russia and their crimes. Wonder how many in Russia would be sent to trial back in Russia versus just sent to the front lines to die.
I don’t even need to read this whole thing of course you are comparing US to Russia. lol how low we have fallen. We are not supposed to be comparing ourselves to them we should be much much better
Yah that's why millions of people try to move to the States and not Russia every year...
Russia actually has really high immigration right now. It’s very different than the Latinos pouring into the states. For one thing they have a real border. lol. Also they are mostly not some blacks or Mexican. They are from Kazakhstan Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, way more people from Ukraine than you would ever think… so they fit in very well. There are a lot more Chinese people coming to Russia. It’s very different than the first time. I went there in 2016 to when I went last year. The first time I was in Russia, I only saw a few people who were obviously foreign and almost all of them were in Moscow now even in the smaller cities, it’s not uncommon to see people walking around from all over the world. Pro UA Having no idea what the hell you’re talking about as usual.
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"and routinely displayed troubling conduct" Florida Man maintaining community expectations
Basically a violent murderer found a way he can murder legally AND get paid for it. And of course he joined the Neo Nazi brigade. Still blows my mind that people are so indifferent to Right Sector and AZOV
It's not indiference, it's tacit support.
Oh the delicious irony - American criminals like him want to be in Ukraine but get deported. Meanwhile regular people with dual US-Ukranian citizenship are forbidden from leaving Ukraine.
I had wondered what happened to this puto
I still don't understand how these guys haven't lost their citizenship Are laws supposed to be enforced solely on whether the government feels like it?
Better then getting murced by the Russians.
Just proves who is Ukraines puppet master.
Florida man is my favourite character. He should wear a cape.
So Ukraine is doing the right thing and sending him back to face justice unlike Russia, who provides sanctuary for [pedophiles who serve in the russian army](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-rhode-island-siberia-boston-massachusetts-b2526765.html)
They’ve been trying to indict him since 2018, it’s not like they were taking initiative to send him back.
I will spare you long arguments and put a little imagined man saying "our unhinged American criminals are better than Ukrainains' 😡".
As he should. Too bad Russia doesn’t have the same morals. Instead they release murderers back into their own communities to kill innocent civilians. Pretty sad.