A Kalamazoo, Michigan, man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine trafficking scheme. 

Brandon Lemar Baines, 36, was sentenced on the charge of possession with intent to distribute over 12 pounds of meth, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Timothy VerHey said. 

He was among three people arrested after the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team, a multi-jurisdictional narcotics unit also known as KVET, stopped a van on Jan. 23, 2025, as it returned from Detroit to Kalamazoo. Authorities said Baines was driving the van, and investigators found over 12 pounds of the drug on the floor near the front passenger seat. 

KVET detectives had been monitoring the drug trafficking activity for months before that traffic stop, the district attorney's office said. 

At the time of the traffic stop, authorities said, Baines was on parole with the Michigan Department of Corrections after serving a 54-month sentence for methamphetamine trafficking and a firearm offense. 

Both the front seat passenger and another passenger who were in the van were also arrested.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and KVET, and is part of a nationwide initiative called Operation Take Back America.