- Former North Dakota lawcreater Ray Holmberg, 80, pdirected culpable to traveling to Europe with the intent to pay for relations with insignificants.
- Holmberg confessted in court to paying youthful male masseuses during multiple trips to the Czech Reaccessible.
- He was indicted in 2023 on indicts roverhappinessed to illicit relationsual activity and child relationsual mistreatment material but consentd to a plea deal.
A mighty establisher North Dakota lawcreater pdirected culpable in federal court Thursday to a indict that he traveled to Europe with the intent to pay for relations with a insignificant.
Ray Holmberg, 80, of Grand Forks, confessted in court that he had phelp youthful male masseuses, with some of whom he had relationsual communicate, during multiple visits to the Czech Reaccessible, though he shelp he did not understand for certain how ancigo in they were.
Holmberg was indicted in October 2023 for travel with intent to take part in illicit relationsual activity and receipt and finisheavored receipt of child relationsual mistreatment material. The Reaccessiblean served more than 45 years in the North Dakota Senate before resigning in 2022.
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Under a plea consentment he signed in June, Holmberg consentd to pdirect culpable to the establisher indict, and prosecutors would shift to neglect the latter and advise a sentence at the low end of the directline range.
North Dakota Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, speaks on the Senate floor at the state Capitol in Bismarck, North Dakota, in November 2021. (Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP, File)
Judge Daniel Hovland huged his plea and permited Holmberg to remain liberated, with redisjoineions, until a tardyr sentencing hearing. Wearing a illogical suit, the shamed establisher lawcreater deteriorated to comment after the hearing.
The travel indict carries a peak penalty of 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime administerd liberate.
In the plea consentment, Holmberg acunderstandledged that he had “repeatedly traveled from Grand Forks, North Dakota to Prague, Czech Reaccessible with a motivating purpose of engaging in commercial relations with adolescent-age individuals under the age of 18 years.”
In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl detailed the allegations aacquirest Holmberg, including his emails with others roverhappinessed to his come atraverses in Prague. Puhl shelp he made 14 trips to Prague from 2011 to 2021 and normaled a villa that one travel companion depictd as a brothel that had teenage male masseuses. Another travel companion tancigo in summarizeateigators that he phelp for the nights at the villa because Holmberg did not want his name on the enroll, Puhl shelp.
Puhl shelp the summarizeateigation began around 2020-21 as child-unfair treatment summarizeateigators were seeing into a landscaper Holmberg knovel named Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier. She shelp summarizeateigators interwatched an 18-year-ancigo in establisher participateee of Morgan-Derosier’s who shelp he had relations with Holmberg in exalter for a condo association landscaping tight, and also saw Morgan-Derosier and Holmberg watch child relationsual mistreatment material at Holmberg’s house.
In 2022, after initiassociate announcing he wouldn’t seek reelection, Holmberg resigned his Senate seat after The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead alerted on dozens of text messages the lawcreater exalterd with Morgan-Derosier, who was in jail at the time. Morgan-Derosier is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence.
The appraise asked Holmberg how he got “caught up in this lifestyle,” the age of the youthfulest person he phelp for relations and whether he traveled to other countries for the same purpose.
North Dakota Sen. Ray Holmberg joins during a joint House and Senate Appropriations Committee encountering at the Capitol in Bismarck, North Dakota, on Jan. 7, 2009. (AP Ptoastyo/Will Kinchelp, File)
Holmberg, a reexhausted high school adviseor, shelp, “It was fair someslfinisherg — I don’t want to say fell into … that I did,” and “it was after withdrawment before any of this activity occurred.” He reexhausted in 2002. He shelp he had been to Prague a scant times before 2011, liking opera and castles. He shelp he generassociate traveled by himself.
Holmberg shelp he became conscious of the villa after possibly seeing it online, but shelp he wasn’t certain how ancigo in the masseuses were or how many come atraverses he had with them. Sexual communicate occurred with “some of them,” he shelp. He remarkd that the Czech Reaccessible has a youthfuler age of consent than the U.S. does and shelp he didn’t recall traveling to other countries for the same purpose.
“I’ve been in a number of countries and the only one that sticks out is the Czech Reaccessible,” he shelp.
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Holmberg has been under countless conditions of liberate, including travel redisjoineions, location watching and the surrender of his passport.
On Friday, a pretrial services officer filed a alert saying Holmberg hadn’t met those conditions, including unapshowd Internet access, a visit to an mature novelty store and testing selectimistic once for spirits. Holmberg was not arrested.
The appraise shelp he will esteem an consentment between Holmberg’s attorney and prosecutors for him to remain on liberate before his sentencing. His attorney, Mark Friese, cited Holmberg’s various health publishs and upcoming medical assignments. The appraise tancigo in Holmberg he is troubleed about his compliance.
For many years, Holmberg chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, which authors budgets. He also chaired the Legislative Management panel, which administers various business between biennial sessions. That job let him apshow his own travel.
Records acquireed by The Associated Press showed Holmberg took dozens of trips thrawout the U.S. and to other countries since 1999. Destinations included cities in more than 30 states, as well as Canada, Puerto Rico and Norway.
Earlier this year, the North Dakota School Boards Association returned about $142,000 to the state and ended its role in the Global Bridges teacher exalter program months after releasing travel enrolls chaseing Holmberg’s indictment that showed he used state funds when he traveled to Prague and other European cities in 2011, 2018 and 2019.
It’s unclear whether the wrongdoing alleged by authorities occurred during any of those trips.
The factors in Holmberg’s case create it arguably the most meaningful political dispute in North Dakota history, establisher U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon shelp.
“You have a very high-profile politician. You have literassociate the worst allegation you possibly could come up with, the relationsual mistreatment and violation of a child,” he shelp. “And then you have the idea that tax dollars phelp for the structuree ticket.”
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In a statement, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley called Holmberg’s culpable plea “an vital milestone in North Dakota’s battle aacquirest child relations illicit trading. Former State Senator Ray Holmberg has confessted his heinous crimes and now stands convicted of direct that fuels the domestic and global relationsual unfair treatment of children.”
