By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A 33-year-old Montevallo man is facing up to life in prison after he allegedly was busted with $7,000 worth of methamphetamine during a traffic stop in Alabaster on Nov. 21.

The Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force arrested Brandon Lee Hendrix, who lists an address in Montevallo, on Nov. 21 and charged him with felony counts of trafficking methamphetamine and attempt to commit a controlled substance crime and misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and second-degree possession of marijuana.

The arrest came as the result of a Task Force investigation involving Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and Alabaster Police Department patrol officers and investigators, said Lt. Clay Hammac, the commander of the Task Force.

As a result of the investigation, law enforcement officers learned Hendrix would be traveling through Shelby County on Nov. 21 allegedly to deliver methamphetamine for “street-level distribution,” Hammac said.

Task Force and Alabaster officers initiated a traffic stop on Hendrix’s vehicle on Alabama 119, and allegedly discovered 63 grams of methamphetamine in the suspect’s vehicle.

“This is an illustration of the benefits of having a multi-jurisdictional task force. You’ve got officers and investigators coming together for one common goal to work for the benefit of our communities,” Hammac said. “It was intended to be packaged into smaller amounts and sold on the streets. Those were sales we were able to keep off our streets.”

As of Nov. 23, Hendrix was being held in the Shelby County Jail on bonds totaling $262,000, and did not yet have a future court date listed.

Trafficking methamphetamine is a Class A felony, which is the most severe level outlined in Alabama law. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.