Former North Dakota senator Ray Holmberg has signed an agreement that indicates that he will plead guilty to a charge of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity. According to several local and national outlets, the plea agreement was filed in U.S. District Court. After more than four decades of service, the former Senator from Grand Forks resigned from the state’s legislature in 2022.
The North Dakota Monitor reported that the agreement stated that Ray Holmberg acknowledged that he traveled between June 24, 2011, and November 1, 2016, to Prague, Czech Republic, from Grand Forks, North Dakota, to engage in commercial sex with adolescents under the age of 18. He has also acknowledged that he has to register as a sex offender in the filed agreement.
Prosecutors have agreed to dismiss a charge of receipt and attempted receipt of child pornography under the plea agreement. According to the outlet, they will also seek the lower end of sentencing under the agreement, which is a minimum between three to four years in prison.
Other terms under the agreement note that prosecutors from another jurisdiction can pursue future charges against Holmberg if necessary. Civil claims are also not barred.
The Republican senator, 80, a grandfather, has also been the longest-serving state senator and has held many important legislative positions, including chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported that Holmberg had exchanged dozens of texts with Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier in August 2021 when he was in jail. The 36-year-old resident of Grand Forks was jailed after being charged and indicted for child sexual abuse.
In early 2022, Holmberg announced that he would not seek reelection. Later, he resigned after The Forum reported about his connections with Morgan-Derosier.
The Associated Press reported that records show that Holmberg has traveled throughout the nation and to several countries, including Canada, Puerto Rico, and Norway, since 1999. Using state funds, he traveled to Prague and Europe in 2011, 2018, and 2019.
Many lawmakers traveled internationally on taxpayer-funded exchange trips, and Global Bridges organized state-funded cultural trips. An ethics complaint related to the Global Bridges program was filed. The North Dakota School Boards Association has informally resolved the complaint, and Global Bridges has returned state funding that was to be used for future trips.
Did the criminal allegations against Holmberg coincide with these trips? This question remains unanswered. However, North Dakota School Boards Association records show that former Senator Ray Holmberg traveled to Prague, Czechoslovakia, during his European visit conducted by Global Bridges.
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