Father and son sentenced for cocaine trafficking

A father and son from Whitefish are going to prison for trafficking cocaine from Arizona the Flathead Valley.

Scott Joseph Hineman, 60, and his son Benjamin Scott Hineman, 29, were sentenced July 31 in U.S. District Court in Missoula for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Both had pleaded guilty to the charges in April.

The father-son duo worked at the family-owned Oriental Secrets rug store in Whitefish.

Benjamin Hineman was sentenced to 60 months in prison, five years supervised release, and $100 special assessment.

Scott Hineman was sentenced to 120 month in prison, five years supervised release, and $100 special assessment. In addition, Scott Hineman was ordered to forfeit $75,000 and a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

According to a court news release, in June of 2012 a confidential informant tipped off the Northwest Drug Task Force that Scott Hineman was distributing cocaine in the Flathead.

From June of 2012 through March of 2013, the informant purchased varying amounts of cocaine from Hineman. The Drug Task Force searched Hineman’s home and recovered 828 grams of cocaine and six firearms.

Hineman later admitted to traveling to Arizona to purchase kilograms of cocaine to redistribute in the Flathead area.

In March of 2013, a confidential informant told the Drug Task Force that Ben Hineman was distributing cocaine in the valley. The informant said he had been purchasing cocaine from Hineman for the previous three years about twice a month in quarter-pound quantities.

The Drug Task Force searched Hineman’s home and found 68 grams of cocaine and one firearm.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the Northwest Drug Task Force.