Powerful former North Dakota lawmaker pleads guilty to traveling to Europe to pay for sex with minor

FARGO, N.D. — A high-profile former North Dakota lawmaker who was one of the most powerful members of the Legislature 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, 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. He initially pleaded not guilty and a trial was scheduled for September.

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.

The travel charge carries maximum penalties of 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervised release.

In the plea agreement, Holmberg acknowledged that from around June 2011 to November 2016, he “repeatedly traveled from Grand Forks, North Dakota to Prague, Czech Republic with a motivating purpose of engaging in commercial sex with adolescent-age individuals under the age of 18 years.”

Holmberg has been under numerous conditions of release, including travel restrictions, location monitoring and the 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