Fort Smith bank robbery suspect sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison

FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — An Oklahoma man who pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year to robbing a Fort Smith bank has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison.

Court documents state that Aljon Smith, 32, of Luther, Okla., appeared in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas for sentencing Thursday morning.

Judge Timothy L. Brooks sentenced him to 210 months in federal prison, plus three years of supervised release, according to court documents. Smith is also ordered to pay $85,265 in restitution.

On Jan. 20, the Fort Smith Police Department responded to a bank robbery at First National Bank, located on the 2500 block of Rogers Avenue around 3:40 p.m. Court documents shed new light on how the robbery allegedly went down.

Multiple witnesses state Smith approached a bank teller, setting a padfolio on the counter and asking how much money he could save by starting an account, according to court documents. He then brandished the tellers to hop over the bank counter.

One teller was allegedly ordered to lie on the ground, and another was ordered to lock the door to the bank, according to court documents. He then ordered two bank employees into the vault and had them fill up a trash bag with money from the vault.

A third employee later came downstairs and was ordered into the bank vault, according to court documents. All three employees were ordered to remove their clothes and place them in a trash bag, along with their car keys, bank keys, cell phones and watches.

Smith then left the bank with the bags in a grey Kia Forte with Oklahoma tags, according to witnesses. Fort Smith police officers identified the vehicle using bank surveillance cameras, and sheriff’s deputies later located the vehicle near Wilburton, Okla., at Robbers Cave State Park on Jan. 21. Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the vehicle the next day.

Smith was located and arrested at a friend’s apartment in Oklahoma City on Jan. 22 by the U.S. Marshals Service. He confessed to the robbery during an interview with detectives, according to court documents.

The Oklahoma City Police Department assisted Fort Smith police in obtaining and executing a search warrant for the friend’s apartment. Police recovered a duffle bag containing thousands of dollars in cash and a firearm matching a robbery witness’s description. A shoe found at the apartment also contained “a large amount of U.S. currency,” court documents state.

Police then executed a search warrant for Smith’s apartment, recovering cash with intact money bands in multiple places. Law enforcement also found a notebook containing a list of Fort Smith banks and “pros” and “cons” for each location, according to court documents.

Smith’s bond conditions showed that he is banned from all First National Bank properties in Sebastian County, and he was held on a $250,000 bond. He was later booked into the Sebastian County Detention Center on Feb. 12.

Smith was eventually federally indicted in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas (Fort Smith). Smith ultimately pleaded guilty to federal charges of bank robbery and using and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.