From Pharmacy Owners to Repeat Offenders: A Family Affair in Florida’s Pill Mill Crackdown
The owners of Pace Pharmacy, Stephen Allen Burklow and Monique Hunter Burklow, along with their adult daughter, Laikyn Noel Burklow, have been arrested on new charges of illegal drug possession. This latest development comes as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) continues its aggressive crackdown on an alleged “pill mill” operation centered at the Pace establishment.
The Burklow parents were previously arrested on May 14, 2025, facing serious racketeering and drug trafficking charges. Now, just over a month later, all three family members are implicated in further drug-related offenses.
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Stephen Burklow, 54, faces a staggering 10 felony counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, five felony counts of identity theft, and 10 misdemeanor counts of possession of drugs without a prescription. His wife, Monique Burklow, 58, was arrested on one felony count of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and four misdemeanor counts of possession of drugs without a prescription. Their daughter, Laikyn Burklow, 22, faces one misdemeanor count of possession of drugs without a prescription.
The trio surrendered to the Santa Rosa County Jail on June 23 after the FDLE obtained arrest warrants.
The initial arrests on May 14 stemmed from a multi-year, multi-agency investigation. FDLE agents, working with a host of federal, state, and local partners, alleged that Stephen and Monique Burklow, along with pharmacist David Barron Winkles, conspired to traffic massive quantities of prescription drugs. This included over 48 pounds of oxycodone, 57 pounds of hydrocodone, and nearly one kilogram of hydromorphone.
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According to FDLE Pensacola Special Agent in Charge Chris Williams, the investigation aimed to dismantle a criminal enterprise “greedily profit[ing] from the opioid epidemic by trafficking illicit drugs under the guise of a legitimate pharmacy.” Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that “no one is above the law.”
The initial probe, which began in December 2020, uncovered suspicious activity involving a local obstetrician-gynecologist, Dr. Elaine Sharp, who allegedly directed patients to fill excessive controlled substance prescriptions at Pace Pharmacy.
Agents contend that the Burklows and Winkles dispensed illicit prescriptions not intended for legitimate medical purposes and that Stephen Burklow allegedly billed insurance companies using other physicians’ National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers without their consent.
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