Editor’s note: This story contains graphic material and discusses the sexual exploitation of minors.
FARGO – A former North Dakota lawmaker was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
Ray Holmberg, 81, was a Grand Forks state senator for 45 years, and received a sentence that is longer than federal sentencing guidelines.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland characterized Holmberg’s conduct as “egregious and despicable” and said he didn’t think the guideline sentence of more than three years was adequate.
“From my perspective, this was not an isolated case and this is not a victimless crime,” Hovland said. “It displays a pattern of very vile, sickening criminal behavior.”
Holmberg, who appeared in court wearing shackles and a bright orange jail uniform, will also have to register as a sex offender.
Prosecutors allege Holmberg traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic 14 times between 2011 and 2021 to pay for sex with boys.
North Dakota’s acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl said if prosecutors had been able to identify victims in Prague, they would have requested a longer sentence.
“These boys experienced harm,” Klemetsrud Puhl said.
She also described what she characterized as Holmberg’s history of leveraging his power to exploit boys and young men.
Though not part of the charges against Holmberg, two men who said they met him in North Dakota and were victimized by him gave emotional testimony at the hearing. One said Holmberg gave him money to film sex acts in the 1990s. The other man who spoke at the hearing was a cooperating witness who said Holmberg used his political power to groom them for sex.
Defense attorney Mark Friese argued prosecutors had not presented evidence that underage boys were involved or that Holmberg ever assaulted a minor. He also emphasized that Holmberg had no criminal history and was not charged with other crimes.
Friese advocated for no prison time, arguing a sentence of time already served in jail and home confinement were more appropriate given Holmberg’s health and age.
Hovland asked Holmberg several questions about messages Holmberg sent bragging about sex with minors. In one message, Holmberg sent a cooperating witness a link to a brothel in Prague with the comment, “The boys rent at around $60 … (sex is extra).”
Holmberg claimed that was “bravado” or “locker room talk” but that the statements were not true.
Hovland expressed skepticism and said he can draw inferences from the repeat trips to Prague and the messages.
“Those are pretty damning admissions,” he said.
Hovland drew on Holmberg’s words from a pre-sentence report in which Holmberg said he engaged sex workers outside of the United States because he believed it to be legal and politically safe.
“There was sexual contact with minors in the Czech Republic,” Hovland said.
Holmberg was linked to the investigation of Nicholas Morgan-Derosier, a Grand Forks man who was sentenced in May to 40 years on child pornography charges.
During that investigation, an employee of Morgan-Derosier’s landscaping business told law enforcement he performed a sex act on Holmberg, identifying him as a senator, testified Dan Casetta, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations.
The employee, who had been homeless until Morgan-Derosier provided him housing and a job, was directed by Morgan-Derosier to perform a sex act on Holmberg in an effort to get a landscaping contract, Casetta testified.
Investigators searched Holmberg’s Grand Forks home in November 2021. After officers took Holmberg’s phone and other electronic devices, he asked for the phone number of North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, Casetta testified. Holmberg asked for the number in front of an agent for the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which reports to the attorney general.
Holmberg left Stenehjem a voicemail indicating he was in “big trouble,” Casetta testified. Holmberg also tried calling Stenehjem at his office. He told an assistant to whisper what sounded like coded language in Stenehjem’s ear, Casetta testified.
Holmberg, a Republican who held the powerful positions of Senate Appropriations Committee chair and head of Legislative Management, resigned from the Legislature in 2022. He was indicted on federal charges in October 2023.
In court Wednesday, the defense denied the prosecution’s claims about exploitation in North Dakota and urged Hovland to focus on the crime Holmberg pleaded guilty to.
Friese said law enforcement identified four other men accused of sex crimes but did not prosecute those men. Some were granted immunity for cooperating in the Holmberg investigation, he said.
In imposing a sentence above the guideline range, Hovland gave examples of other federal sex crimes that carry more serious prison terms.
“I think the sentence reflects how serious a crime it was,” Klemetsrud Puhl said after the hearing. “This was a crime that was an assault on the dignity of many young boys in Prague.”
Friese said late Wednesday he needed to talk to his client about whether he wants to appeal.
In exchange for Holmberg’s guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss a charge of receipt and attempted receipt of child pornography.
Holmberg has been held in jail in Elk River, Minnesota, since November. Hovland said he anticipates Holmberg will return to jail in Minnesota temporarily. Hovland planned to recommend that Holmberg be placed in a federal Bureau of Prisons medical facility in Rochester, Minnesota, but the decision will be up to the bureau.
Hovland said he still considers Holmberg a risk at 81. He ordered Holmberg to have no contact with anyone under 18 unless it’s approved by a probation officer. After he’s completed his sentence, Holmberg’s conditions of release include avoiding playgrounds, schools and other places with children. Hovland also ordered Holmberg to participate in a sex offender treatment program.
