For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A couple from Bellefontaine in Logan County pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in a narcotics conspiracy involving bulk amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the mail.

Justin Salsburey and Ruthann Rankin

Justin Salsburey, 44, pleaded guilty today, and Ruthann Rankin, 39, pleaded guilty last week.

Salsburey is a former bodyguard for Ohio Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy, Rankin was a teacher in the Urbana School District.

According to court documents, in early November 2025, the Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force received information from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office that Salsburey was receiving parcels of bulk narcotics at his residence in Bellefontaine and that his wife was involved in the narcotics trafficking. 

Further investigation revealed that between August 2024 and December 2025, the husband and wife received in the mail approximately 260 parcels from throughout the United States. 

Law enforcement surveillance showed Salsburey and Rankin retrieving the parcels and then placing drugs in a cooler on their porch for pickup. Salsburey also drove to a Post Office in Dublin to mail fentanyl and methamphetamine pills out to customers. For example, he sent 52 parcels from addresses in Bellefontaine to a man in Middleburg Heights. 

When law enforcement officials conducted a search warrant at the couple’s residence, they discovered bulk fentanyl and methamphetamine pills, suspected steroid virals and 12 firearms. 

Rankin told authorities she assisted Salsburey in selling steroids and “Adderall” pills and that her husband started selling steroids and progressed to other drugs. 

Salsburey and Rankin each pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 500 grams of methamphetamine and at least 40 grams of fentanyl, which carries a potential penalty of at least 10 years and up to life in prison. 

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; David Cunningham, Acting Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); and Logan County Sheriff Randall J. Dodds announced the guilty plea entered today before U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley. Assistant United States Attorneys Nicole Pakiz and Jennifer M. Rausch are representing the United States in this case.

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