Date Shared:
October 30th, 2024
Date Released:
August 8th, 2024
Excerpt
A powerful former North Dakota lawmaker pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a charge that he traveled to Europe with the intent to pay for sex with a minor.
Ray Holmberg, 80, of Grand Forks, admitted in court that he had paid young male masseuses, with some of whom he had sexual contact, during multiple visits to the Czech Republic, though he said he did not know for certain how old they were.
Holmberg was indicted in October 2023 for travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity and receipt and attempted receipt of child sexual abuse material. The Republican served more than 45 years in the North Dakota Senate before resigning in 2022.
Under a plea agreement he signed in June, Holmberg agreed to plead guilty to the former charge, and prosecutors would move to dismiss the latter and recommend a sentence at the low end of the guideline range.
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Holmberg, a Republican, served in the state Senate from 1976 until mid-2022. He initially announced he wouldn't seek reelection, but he resigned following reporting from The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead that he exchanged dozens of text messages with a man in jail for child sexual abuse material.
Holmberg's trial was scheduled to begin in September in Fargo. He initially pleaded not guilty. For many years, Holmberg chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, which writes budgets. He also chaired the Legislative Management panel, which handles various business between biennial sessions. That job let him approve his own travel.
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Holmberg has been under numerous conditions of release, including travel restrictions, location monitoring and surrender of his passport.
On Friday, the pretrial services officer filed a report saying Holmberg hadn't met those conditions.
She wrote that he was verbally reprimanded and reminded of his pretrial release conditions after he left his residence once and also visited an adult novelty store, each without approval. He also "continuously" accessed the Internet for unapproved reasons, and did not allow updates and maintenance to the monitoring software on
his cellular device, she said
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In May, Holmberg admitted to using alcohol after testing positively. Later that month he was told to remove an unapproved iPad from his home, and the judge added a condition restricting Holmberg's access to electronic devices.
Since then, he continued to access the Internet for unapproved reasons, the officer wrote.
"Due to the statutory mandate of detention, respectfully, the defendant is not viewed as a suitable candidate for self-surrender," U.S. Pretrial Services Officer Christine Argall wrote.
