FARGO, N.D. — A powerful former North Dakota lawmaker pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a charge that he traveled to Europe with the intent to pay for sex with a minor.

Ray Holmberg, 80, of Grand Forks, admitted in court that he had paid young male masseuses, with some of whom he had sexual contact, during multiple visits to the Czech Republic, though he said he did not know for certain how old they were.

Holmberg was indicted in October 2023 for travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity and receipt and attempted receipt of child sexual abuse material. The Republican served more than 45 years in the North Dakota Senate before resigning in 2022.

Under a plea agreement he signed in June, Holmberg agreed to plead guilty to the former charge, and prosecutors would move to dismiss the latter and recommend a sentence at the low end of the guideline range.

Judge Daniel Hovland accepted his plea and allowed Holmberg to remain released, with restrictions, until a later sentencing hearing. Wearing a dark suit, the disgraced former lawmaker declined to comment after the hearing.

The travel charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervised release.

In the plea agreement, Holmberg acknowledged that he had “repeatedly traveled from Grand Forks, North Dakota to Prague, Czech Republic with a motivating purpose of engaging in commercial sex with adolescent-age individuals under the age of 18 years.”

In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl detailed the allegations against Holmberg, including his emails with others related to his encounters in Prague. Puhl said he made 14 trips to Prague from 2011 to 2021 and frequented a villa that one travel companion described as a brothel that had teenage male masseuses. Another travel companion told investigators that he paid for the nights at the villa because Holmberg did not want his name on the register, Puhl said.

Puhl said the investigation began around 2020-21 as child-exploitation investigators were looking into a landscaper Holmberg knew named Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier. She said investigators interviewed an 18-year-old former employee of Morgan-Derosier’s who said he had sex with Holmberg in exchange for a condo association landscaping contract, and also saw Morgan-Derosier and Holmberg view child sexual abuse material at Holmberg’s house.