Background
In 2020,Caton Todd (formerly of North Dakota) alleged he was sexually assaulted by Holmberg in 2010,after having been invited to the senator's Miami-area condominium. Holmberg's attorney later confirmed the two men spent time together and that Holmberg owned the condo. [14]
Arrested in March 2021,Nicholas James Morgan-DeRosier (from East Grand Forks,Minnesota,born 1988or1989) [22] was indicted ten months later on charges of "receiving and distributing child porn,transporting child porn,transporting minors with intent for those children to engage in sexual activity,and traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity". [23] Court documents listed Morgan-DeRosier having over 6500 images and videos of child sexual abuse material. [11]
On August 23,2021,while Morgan-DeRosier was incarcerated in the Grand Forks County,North Dakota jail on the possession charges,he texted Holmberg,and the two exchanged 65 messages between 3:23 and 5:24 p.m.,in part discussing Holmberg's interest in meeting Morgan-DeRosier's 19-or-20-year-old boyfriend "to give him a massage". The next day,Holmberg texted Morgan-DeRosier,and seven messages were passed back and forth between 6:14 and 6:31 p.m. Morgan-DeRosier was bailed out at 9:14 p.m. on August 24. These text exchanges came to light as federal prosecutor Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl's evidence at Morgan-DeRosier's detention hearing. When The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead uncovered this connection and asked Holmberg about them,the legislator said the messages were about patio construction,claimed ignorance of the massage-related messages,and both claimed to have read about Morgan-DeRosier's changes while also not knowing about them. He later told The Forum,of his texts with Morgan-DeRosier,"They're just gone." [11] Morgan-DeRosier pled guilty to "seven criminal charges related to possessing and distributing child pornography" in September 2023. On May 30,2024,Judge Peter D. Welte imposed a sentence of 40 years imprisonment,victim restitution of $39,000,and mandatory registration as a sex offender. [24]
At 9:30 a.m. on November 17,2021,Holmberg's Grand Forks condominium was searched by the federal Department of Homeland Security and the Grand Forks Police Department. Holmberg was interviewed by agents,and evidentiary material was seized from his home,including CD-Rs,DVD-Rs, [25] and Holmberg's state-issued iPad and laptop computer. [26] Evidence led to an email account belonging to Holmberg,which he used to plan his trips,saying "The boys rent at around $60 (sex is extra)" and "No one is ever too young …remember Prague." [27]
Prosecutors ultimately determined that,as part of state-funded trips—in cooperation with Atlantik-Brücke to "understand and integrate the various facets of international politics,business,academia and culture" [28] —Holmberg took at least three individual trips to Prague,Czech Republic (June 24,2011;September 29,2018;and late June 2019) to illegally have sex with minors. With his senatorial leadership position,Holmberg approved state reimbursement of $126,000 of his own personal travel expenses to Prague. [27]
Federal indictment and trial
A grand jury in the US District Court for North Dakota returned an indictment against Holmberg on October 26,2023 (United States of America v. Raymon Everett Holmberg). Holmberg was also indicted for receiving or attempting to receive child pornography (between November 24,2012,and March 4,2013);Jennifer Puhl testified that Holmberg used the aliases Sean Evan and Sean Evans "to convince a child to send him sexually explicit images". [12]
Arrested and arraigned on October 30,Holmberg pled not-guilty at the US District Court in Fargo,North Dakota. [29] Judge Alice Senechal released Holmberg under the conditions:forfeiture of his passport;no contact with minors,victims,and witnesses;no access to the internet,no travel outside Greater Grand Forks [12] or Fargo;and no possession of firearms. [30] Senechal set a trial date of December 5,2023, [12] to be adjudicated by Judge Daniel L. Hovland. [30] On November 14,upon request of Holmberg's defense team,and with no objection from the federal prosecutor,Hovland postponed the Fargo trial to April 29,which was expected to last five days; [31] in March 2024,it was delayed again until September 9. [32]
On August 8,pursuant to a plea agreement (United States of America v. Raymon Everett Holmberg),Holmberg pled guilty to child sex tourism charges stemming from his travel to the Czech Republic and waived his right to appeal;in exchange,the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to drop charges of receiving child pornography and attempts there to,and would "seek a sentence on the low end of sentencing guidelines." The maximum sentence was 30 years imprisonment and $250,000 in fines,and he will be required to register as a sex offender. Holmberg's allocution additionally included admissions of sex quid pro quo,receipt and consumption of child pornography. Due to Holmberg's health problems,Judge Hovland released him from custody with a GPS tracker,pending sentencing,despite previous violations of his terms of release. [33] [27] There is no required minimum sentencing. [34]
Post-conviction and sentencing
On October 10,2024,the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services System reported that Holmberg had again violated the terms of his pretrial release,this time by repeatedly accessing social media [35] and leaving home multiple times without prior approval. [36] On October 15,Puhl requested a hearing on what continuing "exceptional circumstances" were keeping Holmberg out of jail, [37] while Holmberg's lawyer said that his client's violations were innocuous and did not qualify as violations; [4] on October 29,Judge Hovland revoked Holmberg's pretrial release and ordered him to report to jail by November 1 (United States of America v. Raymon Holmberg). [38] That day,Holmberg surrendered to the United States Marshals Service and was imprisoned [39] in the Sherburne County,Minnesota jail [40] in Elk River,Minnesota. [34]
Holmberg's sentencing hearing was scheduled for March 26,2025. [34]
