This is the sixth in a multi-part series on Arizona's Most Wanted.
Future installments will air on 12 News at 10 on Friday nights and be posted at 12News.com/MostWanted.
Name: Jon Richard Smalley
Date of Birth: Oct. 4, 1963
Description: White male, 6’2” with a slender build and blue eyes. At the time of his disappearance, he weighed 185 pounds
Last seen: 2016
Wanted for: Two bank robberies
On July 19, 2016 Scottsdale police say Smalley robbed the Bank of America located at 3123 North Scottsdale Road at approximately 1:19 p.m.
On July 29, 2016 Scottsdale police say Smalley robbed AmTrust Bank located at 6900 East Camelback Road in front of Scottsdale Fashion Square at around 5:42 p.m.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Ty Woods is in charge of the bank robbery division.
“You could see he's readily identifiable and he used a demand note in each of those demanding a known amount of U.S. currency," Woods said. "He didn't threaten a weapon; however, Scottsdale PD was able to recover a fingerprint from the scene, and that's how we identified him.”
Since Smalley has an extensive criminal history related to drug addiction and robbery that was the break detectives needed. His fingerprints already in law enforcement databases.
As for motive, Agent Woods says, “Just going off his criminal history, that's one of the -- a motivating factor for many bank robbers. And quite frankly, that's the majority of the motive for many of our bank robbers. When they talk to us, often times we ask them, 'What was your motivation behind robbing the bank?' And in most cases, 30-40 percent of the time, it has to do with drug addiction."
Woods says Smalley has ties to multiple states. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Texas on a conviction of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and unlawfully obtaining a controlled substance from a pharmacy. On Aug. 15, 1995 Smalley was sent to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He served more than eight years and was released Oct. 10, 2003.
Other paperwork shows at one point in 2009, Smalley lived in Show Low, Arizona and may have worked at a school there. Not long after, Smalley took a plea deal on robbery and attempting to commit narcotic drug violations in Maricopa County and was sentenced to six years in state prison. He was admitted on Nov. 4, 2010 and released from the prison in Kingman on July 29, 2015.
Less than a year later, Agent Woods says Smalley was at it again.
The FBI knew he was in Oregon, where he was supposed to appear in court. They were working with Oregon authorities to start the extradition process. But Smalley was a no-show in court and has been on the lam since.
“Somebody's going to know where he is," Woods said. "He's likely been in contact with somebody else. When he's starting in Oregon and we know that, there was a likely possibility that he would flee to Idaho or Utah -- that's where I suspect he most likely is. But he could be anywhere."
When asked what he would say to Smalley about his flight from justice, FBI Special Agent Ty Woods said, “Law enforcement has a long memory, and I've got a long career ahead of me. I'm not about to stop looking for him.”
If you have any information about him contact the FBI Phoenix Field Division at 623-466-1999, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or Scottsdale PD at 480-312-5000.