FARGO, N.D. – The once-powerful state Senator Ray Holmberg, now 81 and shackled in jail irons and an orange jail jumpsuit, appeared before a before federal judge for sentencing. Ten years, pronounced Judge Daniel Hovland. The judge called Holmberg’s character “egregious and despicable” said he viewed Holmberg still as a threat to underage boys. The sentencing hearing went on seven hours, including victim statements and an apology Holmberg in the end. Holmberg was elected to the state Senate in 1976. He resigned in 2022 as a disturbing sexual history emerged. In a plea agreement, Holmberg acknowledged that he made repeated trips to the Czech Republic for commercial sex with adolescent boys. He was a frequent fkier with sex jaunts to 30 U.S. states and to Canada, Puerto Rico and Norway. Some trips related also to his job as a Grand Forks school high school counselor. Prosecutors said Holmberg traveled at least 14 times from 2011 to 2021 to Prague and admitted to massage services at brothels. He claimed, however, not to know for certain how old the boys were. Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl said Holmberg had assaulted “the dignity of many young boys.”
A sordid sampler
Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl said that Holmberg posed online in 2012 and 2013 as a teenage boy looking for circumcised teens. He misled and manipulated a 16-year-old Canadian boy into sending him explicit photos, she said. The full story of the relationship is unclear because the boy later committed suicide “There is no doubt Holmberg’s conduct contributed to his struggles,” she said. In nnother case, she said, Holmberg brought a University of North Dakota student to the university president’s suite at the campus hockey arena and claimed he had access some of the most influential people in the state, including the university president, the governor and members of Congress. The expectation was sex, she said.
Holmberg. At age 78 in 2021. Now in failing health.
Jail mug. Later in 2021 after grand jury indictment.