FARGO — North Dakota likely won’t get back tax money that former Sen. Ray Holmberg may have used for international travel when he sexually abused children, Attorney General Drew Wrigley said.

Holmberg is set to be sentenced sometime next year after pleading guilty in federal court earlier this month. Controversy surrounds the 80-year-old Republican from Grand Forks’s sentence — a plea agreement suggested he would receive three years in prison.

The maximum penalty is 30 years in prison. There is no mandatory minimum sentence.

Holmberg also faces a fine, said Tim Purdon, an attorney who served as U.S. attorney for North Dakota from 2010 to 2015. The charge to which Holmberg pleaded guilty involved traveling from Grand Forks to Prague with the intention of sexually abusing children multiple times as part of commercial sex trafficking. That charge carries a fine of up to $250,000.

Holmberg agreed to pay restitution to victims who suffered “direct and approximate harm” from his crime, as ordered by the court. Each victim would have to file a claim for restitution.

Contributed / Robins Kaplan Litigation Law Firm

“I don’t see any reason why the state of North Dakota can’t say they’re a victim here,” Purdon said. “They have to prove their claim. … The question is, ‘Are they really a victim?'”

The state should investigate which trips were state-funded, Purdon said. Holmberg made several trips to various parts of the world over the years, but only a few receipts show him traveling to Prague at taxpayer expense.

The state would have to prove that Holmberg committed fraud when he used government funds, Wrigley said. The program for which he used the money to travel was legitimate, lawmakers went through a proper process to allocate those dollars and the entity responsible for managing the money approved Holmberg’s spending, the attorney general said.

Wrigley said he sees no way to recover any government money Holmberg may have used for the trips.

“That program existed. It’s a decision that policymakers wanted to make,” Wrigley said. “That’s not the problem. Ray Holmberg is the problem. He took advantage of his proximity to certain places. … He took advantage of people who put those dollars into subsidy programs.”

Purdon pushed back, saying the public is angry about government money being involved in this case. Holmberg used government money to travel to Europe and sexually abuse children, Purdon said.

“He didn’t go to Prague to learn how to be a better state legislator,” Purdon said of Holmberg. “He went to Prague to have sex with minors.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on possible restitution, including whether North Dakota could be included as a victim. Holmberg’s attorney, Mark Friese, did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

April Baumgarten / The Forum

It is unclear who will be identified as a victim in this case. The plea agreement did not name victims, and any claims by Holmberg’s child victims have not been made public.

“We don’t know if restitution will be ordered at sentencing,” Purdon said.

It is not unheard of for government agencies to seek restitution. Purdon noted that tribes in North Dakota have sought money from suspects in financial crimes.

“I don’t know if the state of North Dakota has a ‘victim,’ but I certainly think they can make a claim and argue that the taxpayers are,” Purdon said.

Holmberg used thousands of dollars approved by the North Dakota Legislature to travel to China, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands and Estonia from 2010 to 2019, according to receipts obtained by The Forum from the North Dakota School Board Association. He was able to access the funds through Global Bridges, an international program based in Berlin that facilitates travel for a variety of groups, including politicians, education professionals and business leaders.

In an email to The Forum, Global Bridges said the nonprofit program is “committed to promoting global understanding” and aims to “build bridges” by organizing study tours and conferences.

Global Bridges chose who went on the trips, and the North Dakota School Board Association paid for the trips with taxpayer money. The state legislature gave $830,000 from 2007 to 2019 to the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction with a mandate that the money be given to the School Board Association, a state lobbying group that advocates for public education.

The Department of Public Instruction declined to comment for this story. A message left for the School Board Association was not returned by time of publication.

The Forum found at least three receipts approved by the association showing that Holmberg traveled to Prague with state funding, totaling approximately $5,300.

Only one of those receipts fell within the time frame for which Holmberg pleaded guilty to traveling to the Czech city to sexually abuse children, between June 24, 2011, and November 1, 2016. A plane ticket with a departure date of June 24, 2011, showed Holmberg traveling from Grand Forks to Prague and then Amsterdam for $1,451. On the same receipt, Holmberg departed Pristina, Kosovo, on June 30, 2011, and flew to Prague for $383.

Global Bridges said that no conferences it organized took place in Prague or Amsterdam. Holmberg also submitted receipts showing that he traveled to Amsterdam using taxpayer money intended for Global Bridges events.

First Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Puhl cited the June 24, 2011 trip when describing the dates on which they could prove Holmberg traveled to Prague to sexually abuse children. In total, Holmberg traveled to Prague 14 times between 2011 and 2021, although it is unclear whether he intended to sexually abuse children on all of those trips.

The other two trips under the Global Bridges programme took place in September 2018 and June 2019.

Several North Dakota lawmakers and teachers went on the trip, though Holmberg seemed to go out almost every year, Wrigley said.

“Our legislature has determined that Global Bridges is beneficial,” Wrigley said.

The School Board Association announced in June that it was cutting ties with Global Bridges. It also returned $142,166 allocated to the program to the state.

Holmberg participated in the research and conferences supported by Global Bridges, Wrigley said, and the School Board Association approved the receipts and reimbursed Holmberg for the travel expenses.

“In addition to the horrific sexual nature of his crimes … he is exploiting government funds,” Wrigley said.

At the time the receipts were approved, Jon Martinson was the executive director of the School Board Association. He approved Holmberg’s travel on behalf of the association, even after he retired as leader in 2017.

His brother, Rep. Bob Martinson, a Republican from Bismarck, has served on the House Budget Committee since 1997 and was instrumental in connecting Global Bridges to state funding.

Holmberg, who represented Grand Forks in the North Dakota Senate from 1976 to 2022, was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

The budget committees discuss budget bills and make recommendations to the House and Senate on what funding should be approved. Bob Martinson and Holmberg would have had direct oversight of bills that included funding for Global Bridges.

Jon Martinson did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Wrigley said he understands the public’s questions about the 2011 Prague trip. He said he would investigate whether North Dakota should file a victim claim in the federal case.

He called the possible use of government funds for child sexual abuse abroad “disturbing,” “unfortunate” and “abusive.”

Wrigley noted that this will not add any additional time to Holmberg’s sentence.

“It’s kind of like he stole a candy bar and then robbed the bank across the street,” said Wrigley, who added that Holmberg is a “convicted felon” for commercial child sex crimes.

There are issues that may not be proven, including jurisdictional issues.

“It’s really distracting,” Wrigley said.

The state could file a civil lawsuit, but it is easier to seek damages through a criminal lawsuit, Purdon said.

The state has an argument that it was a victim of Holmberg’s plan to travel to Prague to sexually abuse children, Purdon said. The issue is getting that money from Holmberg to repay taxpayers, he added.

“The question is why aren’t these government officials taking every possible opportunity to try to get those dollars back?” he asked.