Colorado doctor Scott Burke busted on 82-foot yacht with guns, drugs and prostitutes held on $200K bail

The retired Colorado doctor who was busted on his yacht with guns, drugs and prostitutes this week appeared in court Friday and was held on $200,000 bail, according to a report.

Scott Burke, 69, of Englewood, was arrested Wednesday after police received a call about a potentially overdosing woman who apparently did not feel safe on his 82-foot vessel in Nantucket Harbor, and wanted to leave.

Cops boarded the yacht, Jess Conn, and handcuffed Burke after finding cocaine, ketamine, two handguns and ammunition onboard.


Scott Burke, 69, was held on $200,000 bail after getting busted on his yacht with guns, drugs and prostitutes.
Scott Burke, 69, was held on $200,000 bail after getting busted on his yacht with guns, drugs and prostitutes.
Facebook/Ellen Burke

Police arrested Burke after receiving a call from a woman who did not feel safe on his yacht called Jess Conn in Nantucket Harbor.
Police arrested Burke after receiving a call from a woman who did not feel safe on his yacht called Jess Conn in Nantucket Harbor.
Nantucket Current

Several prostitutes were also along for the ride, according to the Nantucket Current.

Burke pleaded not guilty to gun possession and drug raps at his detention hearing Friday in Plymouth District Court, the Boston Globe reported.

It was unclear if Burke has since posted bail.

Police said the woman who called police “did not want to be there, was under the influence of narcotics, and possibly [had] overdosed.”


Police found cocaine, ketamine, two handguns and ammunition onboard the boat.
Police found cocaine, ketamine, two handguns and ammunition onboard the boat.
Nantucket Current

Burke told arriving officers that he had licenses for the guns — a .380 pistol and a 9 mm pistol — but authorities found they were issued in Florida and had expired last year.

Police also recovered 43 grams of cocaine and 14 grams of ketamine, a horse tranquilizer, in total.

Burke was initially collared on two counts of possessing a firearm without a license, authorities said.


According to police, the woman who called claimed she was possibly overdosing.
According to police, the woman who called claimed she was possibly overdosing.
Nantucket Current

It was not clear if Burke had since posted bail.
It was not clear if Burke had since posted bail.
Facebook/Tony Burkenstock

He was later slapped with additional charges of illegal ammunition possession and drug-related raps following the incident.

Records show that the retiree was first licensed to practice medicine in Colorado in 1981, and that his license expired in 2021.

Burke previously ran a spine and rehabilitation clinic and founded a medical insurance company roughly two decades ago, according to online records.

The Globe reported that Burke’s 2021 Nordhvn yacht first arrived in Nantucket on Aug. 23 from Newport and is registered in the Cayman Islands. He also has a house in the Florida Keys.