(Dan Koeck/For the North Dakota Monitor)
(BY AMY DALRYMPLE AND JEFF BEACH North Dakota Monitor) – According to court documents, Ray Holmberg of Grand Forks, a former state Senator, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
Holmberg, 81, was a state senator for 45 years, and received a sentence that is longer than federal sentencing guidelines.
Holmberg also will have to register as a sex offender.
His attorney had 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.
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 argued that Holmberg should serve prison time, describing what she characterized as his history of leveraging his power to exploit boys and young men.
