Possible overdose victim was crew member, not prostitute, lawyer says
Coast Guard rescues 3 people off Nantucket
Coast Guard crews responded to the sinking of a fishing vessel.
Florida Dr. Scott Anthony Burke, the 69-year-old yachtsman who police say they busted with more than 40 grams of cocaine and 14 grams of ketamine last week, was holding a party on board a boat last week as he faces terminal cancer, according to his lawyer.
"To have this man potentially spend the rest of his life waiting for a case in jail, to me, would be very, very tragic," the lawyer said, in reference to his client's illness.
Burke is facing drug and gun charges after police boarded his vessel last week in response to a report of a woman possibly overdosing. In the bedroom with the woman, they found cocaine and a pistol, and a search warrant allegedly turned up a substantial amount of drugs and another gun which the doctor didn't have a license for.
His attorney Henry Brennan told the Nantucket Current that additional allegations from an anonymous law enforcement source that prostitutes were on board is "disgusting" slander.
FLORIDA MAN BUSTED WITH GUNS, DRUGS AND ‘PROSTITUTES’ IN LUXE NANTUCKET YACHT RAID
Police searched the 80-foot Nordhavn yacht Jess Conn Tuesday, Sept. 5, and allegedly recovered a stash of cocaine in a safe, ketamine and unlicensed handguns. Its owner, Dr. Scott Burke, was arrested. (@kitnoble/@nantucketcurrent, Inset: Scott Burke/LinkedIn)
The woman on board was a friend of Burke's hired captain, Brennan told the paper, and a staff member.
"There was a party on the boat, and [Burke] was spending time with friends," he said. "As we suggested, the boat is large. He has a captain. He has staff. There was a cook. And sometimes there are people who serve as staff waiters, cleaners and things like that."
Police responded to Burke's boat, the Jess Conn, last Tuesday after an unidentified reporting party called their non-emergency dispatch line. Burke's 80-foot Nordhavn trawler has been visible in Nantucket Harbor for days after his arrest.
When first responders arrived in the master bedroom to look at the victim, they spotted a bag of cocaine on the nightstand and a loaded pistol on a bookshelf, according to the incident report.
Scott Anthony Burke is held on bail in Plymouth District Court by Judge James Sullivan. The retired Florida surgeon is facing gun and drug charges, related to an incident on his yacht. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
After obtaining a search warrant, police went back and say they recovered 43.4 grams of cocaine and 14.1 grams of ketamine.
Neither Burke nor his attorney could immediately be reached for comment.
The doctor was one of the first international doctors to reach Haiti in 2010 following a devastating earthquake and performed more than 100 surgeries there, his lawyer told the judge at his bail hearing, according to the Current.
BEACHGOERS ON EDGE AS SHARKS SEEN PROWLING IN BLOOD-RED WATERS: VIDEO
Dr. Scott Anthony Burke, right, poses with his family on the back of his luxury yacht, the Jess Conn. (Tony Burkenstock/Facebook)
A source close to the investigation reportedly told the Nantucket Current that authorities also encountered prostitutes on board, but police have not confirmed that claim, and court records do not show any prostitution-related charges against Burke.
"That's certainly not in my press release," Lt. Angus MacVicar, the Nantucket Police Department's public information officer, told Fox News Digital.
Burke allegedly told police he had a license for the handguns — but police said his Florida license was not only invalid in Massachusetts, it expired last year. He now faces a dozen gun and drug charges and was released on $200,000 bail.
Scott Anthony Burke is held on bail in Plymouth District Court by Judge James Sullivan. The retired Florida surgeon is facing gun and drug charges, related to an incident on his yacht. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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Public records show Burke obtained his medical license in Colorado in 1981. It was last renewed in 2019. He has owned at least two other large vessels over the years, 90 and 58 feet long, also named Jess Conn.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Burke also founded a medical lien service firm called Injury Finance in 2003 and as a physician specialized in spine rehab and pain. His bio said he retired from active medical practice.
The investigation remains ongoing, but police declined to comment on potential additional charges.
Michael Ruiz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
