GRAND FORKS, N.D. (KFGO) – Ray Holmberg, who was North Dakota’s – and one of the country’s – longest-serving state senators until he resigned last spring, has been indicted on federal charges of travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual activity and receipt of child pornography. He was arrested Monday morning in Grand Forks.
The charges, filed October 26 and unsealed Monday, come two years after police and federal agents raided the 79-year-old’s home in Grand Forks after an investigation showed Holmberg had traded scores of text messages with another man who was jailed on child pornography charges.
A federal grand jury charged Holmberg with two counts. The indictment against him claims Holmberg traveled to the Czech Republic for the purpose of engaging in sex with a minor, and that he knowingly received child pornography. Court records show Holmberg’s offenses took place between June of 2011 and November 2016.
The indictment lists two aliases for Holmberg as “Sean Evan” and “Sean Evans.”
Nicholas Morgan Derosier is the man Holmberg was accused of communicating with while Derosier was in jail. He pleaded guilty to seven counts of possession and distribution of child pornography in September. Besides the jail texts, there are a number of connections between Derosier and Holmberg. In a previous evidentiary hearing in the case it was revealed that Derosier’s former landscaping business partner had been killed in a work-site accident while the two were clearing snow at Holmberg’s residence. Authorities said Derosier was operating a front-end loader that ran over his business partner multiple times. Months later, the N.D. Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Protection and Antitrust issued an order of injunction to prohibit Derosier’s landscaping company from doing business and Derosier was overheard by investigators on the phone with the AG’s office trying to arrange for a meeting in Bismarck at a time when Holmberg needed to be there so that they could ride to the state capitol together.
Holmberg was one of the Legislature’s most powerful lawmakers for decades, serving as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He chaired the Legislative Management committee four times. The Republican legislator was first elected to his senate seat, serving Grand Forks’ District 17, in 1976.
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota Jennifer Puhl is prosecuting the case for the Government. Mark Friese, a criminal defense attorney with the Vogel Law Firm in Fargo, has previously represented Holmberg and was noticed of the hearing.
On Monday, October 30th, Holmberg pleaded not guilty to charges contained in a federal grand jury indictment that he repeatedly traveled to the Czech Republic to have sex with a minor. The Grand Forks Republican is also charged with receiving and attempting to receive child pornography. He’s pleaded not guilty to both counts.
The indictment says Holmberg used the name Sean Evans. A Magistrate judge ordered that Holmberg, who is 70, surrender his passport and restrict his travel to Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, and Fargo for future court appearances and medical appointments.