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North Dakota Senator, 80, to plead guilty to traveling to Europe to have sex with minors on taxpayer-funded flights
A former North Dakota Senator is set to plead guilty to a federal charge that he traveled to Europe to have sex with minors on taxpayer-funded flights.
Senator Ray Holmberg, 80, signed a plea agreement last week that was filed on Monday in North Dakota U.S. District Court.
The disgraced Republican senator had traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic with the intent to 'engage in illicit sexual activity with minors' from around June 2011 to November 2016,' InForum previously reported.
Holmberg was also accused of receiving or attempting to receive child porn between the dates of November 2012 and March 2013.
He initially pleaded not guilty in October and was indicted by a grand jury. His trial is set for September. The charges carry a up to a 30-year prison sentence, and a $250,000 fine.
Disgraced former North Dakota Senator Ray Holmberg pictured speaking on the Senate floor at the state Capitol in Bismarck, North Dakota in November 2021
Senator Ray Holmberg, 80, signed a plea agreement last week that was filed on Monday in North Dakota U.S. District Court
Prosecutors said in a statement that Holmberg, who served for 45 years in the chamber, repeatedly traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic from June 2011 to November 2016 for the purpose of paying for sex with a person under 18 years old
The grandfather of five said he would not seek re-election and resigned in Spring 2022. He cited stress and 'a weakened ability to concentrate on the matters at hand and effectively recall events,' for his resignation.
However, a report alleged he had exchanged approximately 72 text messages in August 2021 with suspect Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier, who was in prison on child pornography and sex abuse crimes, The Forum of Fargo-Moorehead reported.
Morgan-Derosier, was the owner of a patio and yard care business called Team Lawn, and at the time was in custody at the Grand Forks County jail.
Holmberg told The Forum the messages were about 'a variety of things,' including patio work by Morgan-Derosier.
Law enforcement searched Holmberg's Grand Forks home in November 2021, seizing video discs and additional items.
In May, Morgan-Derosier was sentenced to 40 years in prison in U.S. District Court in Fargo in connection with child sexual abuse images, the Associated Press previously reported.
According to the Holmberg's plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend the low end of the sentencing guideline range, and move to dismiss Holmberg's other charge, receipt and attempted receipt of child sexual abuse material, Yahoo News reported.
Holmberg's attorney Mark Friese said prosecutors will likely recommend a prison sentence of three to four years.
Under the plea deal, Holmberg would also have to register as a sex offender.
The court will schedule a plea hearing and order a presentence investigation report, according to Holmberg's attorney.
The travel offense his client is facing does not carry a mandatory sentence, and the receipt charge has a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, Friese explained.
Holmberg, served on the senate from 1976 through 2022, and was the longest-serving state senator in the U.S.
He was also the former chairman of the Legislative Management Committee, and chaired the influential Senate Appropriations Committee, which writes budgets.
The grandfather of five resigned in April 2022 after a report alleged he had exchanged dozens of text messages with suspect Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier, who was sentenced last month to 40 years in prison in connection with child sexual abuse images, the Associated Press previously reported
Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier pleaded guilty in federal court to six counts of possessing images depicting child sexual abuse and one count of receiving and distributing such images. In May, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison
Since 1999, Holmberg traveled to more than 30 states and other countries, including, Canada, Puerto Rico and Norway, The Associated Press reported.
Travel records showed Holmberg used public funding for trips in 2011, 2018 and 2019 to Prague in the Czech Republic and to other cities, including Amsterdam and Berlin.
The trips were arranged through the Germany-based Global Bridges teacher exchange program, which received funding from the North Dakota Legislature.
Approximately $142,000 was returned to the state by The North Dakota School Boards Association, as per the news outlet.
It remains unclear in any wrongdoing alleged by authorities occurred during any of those trips.