Top GOP Star’s Bodyguard Charged With Drug Trafficking

Federal prosecutors have charged a bodyguard assigned to protect the family of Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy in what authorities say was a sprawling drug-trafficking operation.

Justin Salsburey, 43, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and his wife, Urbana schoolteacher Ruthann Rankin, were arrested Dec. 30, according to WSYX-TV. Investigators say the couple ran a months-long pipeline of narcotics shipped through the mail, tied to 261 parcels sent between August 2024 and December 2025.

One intercepted package contained 119 blue counterfeit OxyContin pills that tested positive for fentanyl, authorities said. After agents allowed another package to be delivered, they watched Salsburey and Rankin place items on their porch that were later picked up by multiple people. One buyer told investigators he purchased Adderall from the couple for $5 per pill.

Ramaswamy’s campaign spokeswoman Connie Luck said the candidate and his family take the situation seriously.

“Vivek and his family take matters of safety seriously and support efforts to hold these individuals accountable for these allegations if they are proven,” Luck said, CW Columbus reported.

Ramaswamy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors say Salsburey mailed dozens of other packages to an address in Middleburg Heights, including shipments of pills that tested positive for fentanyl and methamphetamine. A search of the couple’s home turned up what authorities described as a massive stash of suspected drugs, including 264 grams of blue pills, 938 grams of orange methamphetamine pills and 19 grams of orange MDMA pills, along with other suspected controlled substances and steroids.

After her arrest, Rankin told investigators she believed the blue pills were benzodiazepines and the orange pills were Adderall. She said her husband first sold steroids before moving into other drugs. Federal court records show both are charged with conspiracy to distribute, or intent to distribute, 40 grams or more of substances containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, as well as possession with intent to distribute mixtures containing those drugs.

ARK Protection Group, the private firm that employed Salsburey, said they pulled him from Vivek Ramaswamy‘s detail immediately after learning of the arrest. The company said Salsburey had passed multiple background checks before being hired, including federal and state screenings and a review by Ohio State University Medical Center in September. It also said he passed pre-employment and random drug tests while on the job.

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