MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WRBL) – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama said a Florida resident was sentenced to over 14 years in prison after he was found guilty of carjacking and shooting at the owner of the vehicle back in 2021.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia, on Friday, a federal judge sentenced 50-year-old Steven John Smalley to 171 months in prison for carjacking and discharging a firearm during the crime.

The judge also ordered Smalley to serve five years of supervised release after completing his prison term.

Smalley’s sentence came after a July trial, where a jury found him guilty of shooting at a customer at a gas station on Ross Clark Circle in Dothan, Alabama; and then driving away in the victim’s vehicle.

During questioning witnesses at the scene after the carjacking, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says investigators found Smalley in the stolen vehicle when he drove by the scene of the crime. Investigators were able to arrest Smalley within walking distance of the gas station.

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