A former U.S. soldier who fought in Ukraine was handed two life sentences for killing a Florida couple during a robbery intended to fund his travel to Venezuela to fight the government of Nicolás Maduro, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Craig Austin Lang, 35, was convicted in September on federal charges including robbery and conspiring to kill persons in a foreign country. He was previously extradited from Ukraine, where he had volunteered to fight against Russian separatists.

"Lang’s alleged conduct is shocking in its scope and its callous disregard for human life," Nicole Argentieri, principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice’s criminal division, previously said in a statement.

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Lang and another former soldier, Alex Jared Zwiefelhofer, killed Serafin "Danny" Lorenzo Jr. and Deana Lorenzo – who traveled from Brooksville to Estero – in April 2018 during what the couple believed was a meeting to buy guns advertised on "Armslist," an online marketplace, federal prosecutors said.

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The pair had brought $3,000 and were ambushed in a parking lot and shot multiple times, authorities said. The robbery was intended to fund travel plans for Lang and Zwiefelhofer to Venezuela, where they hoped to join a paramilitary group.

Lang was dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 2014 before joining the far-right Ukrainian nationalist military group known as Right Sector two years later, according to The Washington Post.

Lang and Zwiefelhofer had previously fought in Ukraine and intended to travel to fight in other conflicts.

Zwiefelhofer was convicted in 2024 and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., all but hammered a nail into the coffin of the Senate trying to address healthcare in 2025 today.

"We're not going to pass anything by the end of this week. But I do think there is a potential pathway in January," said Thune. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., nixed an idea from GOP moderates for a temporary extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies because it didn’t comply with congressional budgetary rules.

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But this afternoon, Johnson reversed himself and is willing to entertain a plan from Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y.

Rather than simply extending the subsidies on an interim basis, which means that insurance companies receive the money, LaLota’s plan provides a two-year tax deduction for those who previously received the Obamacare aid.

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President Trump said he would not sign a bill that continued to send money to the insurance companies. So, the LaLota approach cuts out insurance companies from the equation, and policyholders score a tax credit.

LaLota and others are due to present their plan in the House Rules Committee later today. It was believed that Johnson and the rules panel would block the older plan to renew the subsidies. But Johnson said "there's a real possibility they get a vote on it."

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That said, a vote is far from a guarantee of a fix. And it’s far from certain that the House would adopt the amendment and copy it onto the underlying GOP health care bill.

The House is set to debate and vote on a bill tomorrow to allow for "association" healthcare plans. That would permit groups of people to pool their money together to purchase insurance plans, and, conceivably, save money.

Some moderates from swing districts are still not satisfied and worried about the political consequences in the 2026 midterms if Republicans fail to address healthcare.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., appeared skeptical that Congress could address the skyrocketing premiums ex post facto in 2026.

"You can't do it after Jan. 1," said Schumer. "It’s expired already. It's not the same as it was before. Once it expires, the toothpaste is out of the tube."

Also today, Schumer refused to commit to Democrats using the same tactics with healthcare to lord over Republicans as the next government funding deadline approaches Jan. 30.