Man Sentenced to 171 Months in Federal Prison for Carjacking and Shooting at Victim in Dothan, Alabama

           MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA – On October 26, 2023, a federal judge sentenced 50-year-old Steven John Smalley, from Panama City, Florida, to 171 months in prison for carjacking and discharging a firearm during the crime, announced Acting United States Attorney Jonathan S. Ross. In addition, the judge ordered that Smalley serve five years of supervised release following his prison term. Federal inmates are not eligible for parole.

           Smalley’s sentence follows a July 2023 trial where a jury found him guilty of shooting at a customer of a gas station on Ross Clark Circle in Dothan, Alabama then driving away in the customer’s vehicle. While questioning witnesses at the scene shortly after the carjacking, investigators spotted Smalley in the stolen vehicle as he drove by the gas station. Police arrested Smalley within walking distance of the crime scene.   

           This case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.

           The Dothan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case, which Assistant United States Attorneys Justin L. Jones and Joel Feil prosecuted.