The retired doctor arrested aboard a luxury yacht allegedly filled with prostitutes, drugs and guns off Nantucket is free after posting $200,000 bail, The Post has learned.
Scott Anthony Burke, a 69-year-old married father and former spine doctor, was released last week, Nantucket deputies said Sunday, adding that Massachusetts law stipulates that bonds must be paid in full.
Burke posted bail at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility about a day after his arrest aboard his 82-foot yacht Jess Conn Tuesday morning, police said.
Marina workers and local fishermen said they have seen people relaxing aboard the doctor’s yacht, which remains anchored in the luxury port, since Burke’s release. It is unclear if the former doctor is among them or if he is still on the island.
“There are people on the boat, but I don’t know who they are,” one fisherman said Sunday.
“Yesterday I saw two males. …They were sitting in the back with hats and glasses. “Just two people sitting in the shadows.”
On Sunday afternoon, the jacuzzi on the yacht’s upper deck appeared to have been recently used, with the cover removed and a towel spread on a nearby chaise lounge.
Dr. Scott Anthony Burke, 69, retired, pleaded not guilty to drug and gun trafficking charges in court Wednesday Boston Globe via Getty Images
“On Thursday I saw a female behind,” said the fisherman.
The worker said he wasn’t sure if one of the men had been Burke.
“He looks like most millionaires around here. It seems like they have been eating in restaurants for the last 30 years. “A lot of alcohol, a lot of salt, a lot of cream,” said the fisherman.
“They were very discreet before they were arrested,” the man added of the boat’s occupants.
Burke was bagged when police were alerted that a woman needed “medical assistance” on the yacht after possibly suffering an overdose on board.
Burke’s 82-foot yacht remains anchored in Nantucket Harbor, where people are reportedly on board. James Keivom
Responding police transported the woman to a nearby hospital and discovered about 14 grams of ketamine, about 43 grams of cocaine, a loaded 9mm handgun along with a trio of 30-round magazines, and a .380 pistol in the ship.
According to a police report, the floor of a bedroom was also littered with loose ammunition.
After being handcuffed, Burke allegedly confessed that he owned the guns and told officers where the others were stored.
“Scott Burke does not have a valid title [license to carry] either [firearm identification] card,” the police report said.
Burke was charged with drug and weapons trafficking at an arraignment in Plymouth District Court on Wednesday. He pleaded not guilty.
Burke was held at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility for about a day before posting bond and being released. Facebook/Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office
Island locals, who say drugs and sex are par for the course for many of the island’s elite visitors, have been amused by aspects of this tawdry situation.
“Everyone is laughing out loud. We think it’s very funny,” said a 61-year-old Nantucket native who asked not to be identified. “Everyone does that. “They arrested him, that’s all.”
But Burke’s weapons crossed a line, they said.
“The guns [are] a completely different ballgame,” the local said.
Marina workers have said that whoever remains aboard Burke’s yacht has not been welcome to return to land. James Keivom
Marina workers said whoever is now on the ship has not been welcome on land.
“Someone came on a tender and tried to get sandwiches or something from the island,” said one worker who asked to remain anonymous.
“They tried to come to the marina and we told them to leave.”
Burke, married and father of two, ran a spine and rehabilitation clinic in Colorado before retiring in 2021.
He now lives at the exclusive Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, Florida.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn