Craig Austin Lang was indicted on 4 Dec 2019, extradited from Ukraine to the US in 2024, and found guilty by a jury on 15 Sep 2025. The US military veteran also violated the Neutrality Act. Lang, who had previously fought in the Ukraine, pursued a plan to fight the Venezuelan government and committed the robbery and murder to obtain money to fund his travel. Lang's co-defendant, Alex Jared Zwiefelhofer, was previously convicted at trial in 2024 and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

The American rightwing has had designs on resource-rich socialist Venezuela for years, including during Dummkopf Trumpf's first Reign of Terror.