Nantucket Harbor 70-foot yacht carrying guns, drugs and prostitutes discovered: report

News

By Kenneth Garger and Emily Crane

A retired doctor was arrested Tuesday after police allegedly discovered guns, drugs and prostitutes on his 70-foot yacht in Nantucket — following reports a distressed woman had possibly overdosed and “did not feel safe” onboard.    

Scott Anthony Burke, 69, was slapped with drug trafficking and weapons charges after cops raided his luxury vessel — Jess Conn – and uncovered the trove of guns, cocaine and ketamine, court records obtained by The Boston Globe allege.

The shocking discovery — and Burke’s subsequent arrest — in the harbor of the ritzy Massachusetts island was made after cops received a report just before 8 a.m. that a woman on board was in need of “medical assistance,” police said in a statement Wednesday.   

The woman onboard “did not want to be there, was under the influence of narcotics, and possibly [had] overdosed,” the police report stated.

When officers came onboard, Burke allegedly led them to his bedroom where they found the woman who “appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance” and “stated that she did not feel safe,” the report added.

She was taken to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital for treatment, cops said, though her condition wasn’t immediately known.

Prostitutes were also found on the vessel, law enforcement sources told the Nantucket Current.

The subsequent search of the yacht allegedly uncovered about 43 grams of cocaine, 14 grams of ketamine, a .380 pistol, three 30-round 9 millimeter magazines, a 12-round magazine in a 9 millimeter pistol, according to the police report.

Multiple rounds of ammo were also found on the yacht’s bedroom floor, the report added.

After being cuffed, Burke allegedly confessed that the firearms onboard were his and pointed out where several other guns were located.

“Scott Burke does not possess a valid [license to carry] or [firearm identification] card,” the report said.

Burke was initially arrested on two counts of possessing a firearm without a license, police said.

He was later slapped with additional charges of having ammunition and possession of Class A and B drugs following the raid.

Burke — who has addresses in Key Largo, Florida, and Denver, Colorado — is a retired doctor who previously ran a spine and rehabilitation clinic, online records show.

He founded Injury Finance, a Colorado-based medical insurance company that provides lien services for third-party liability claims, about two decades ago, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Burke was first licensed to practice medicine in Colorado in 1981 but his license expired there two years ago, the state’s Board of Medicine records show.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in Nantucket District Court on the weapons and drug-related charges next Monday.

Burke’s luxury yacht is registered in the Cayman Islands.

Before arriving in Nantucket on Aug. 23, Burke’s Jess Conn boat had been anchored off Newport, Rhode Island.

Back in May, the luxury vessel ran aground off Florida — though it didn’t sustain much damage.