North Dakota
In appeal, man tied to former Sen. Ray Holmberg says search warrant in his own case was unconstitutional
FARGO — A Grand Forks man connected to a former North Dakota senator who traveled abroad with plans to sexually abuse children is appealing
his own federal child sex abuse conviction,
arguing a search warrant in the case was unconstitutional.
Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier, 37, argued evidence showing he possessed child sex abuse material should have been thrown out due to what his defense team called an “overbroad” search warrant. The warrant was used to search Morgan-Derosier’s home in September 2020 for evidence that he violated a judicial order that banned him from doing business as Team Lawn, his landscaping business.
The search turned up a thumb drive that contained child sex abuse materials, according to court documents. Police applied for a search warrant once they found images of children being sexually abused, court documents said.
The evidence likely would have been used in a trial in North Dakota U.S. District Court, but Morgan-Derosier pleaded guilty in September 2023 to charges that said he received, distributed and possessed child sex abuse materials. The plea came after U.S. District Judge Peter Welte denied Morgan-Derosier’s motion to suppress.
Prosecutors also said the defendant sexually abused multiple children over the years, including some he met online and lured to a physical location. Morgan-Derosier and another man sexually abused a boy in 2020 together in a tent near Park Rapids, Minnesota, court documents said.
Morgan-Derosier did not have to admit to the sexual abuse, but he is serving a 40-year sentence for possessing thousands of child sex abuse materials and sharing some of the images online.
Morgan-Derosier reserved the right to appeal his conviction based on the search warrant.
He filed a notice to appeal
last year in the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In an appeals brief that was recently unsealed, Morgan-Derosier’s attorney argued that the search warrant was unconstitutional, overbroad and lacking particularity. His team also argued that the warrant led to evidence of a crime that was unrelated to the investigation of his business dealings, the brief said.
“The warrant essentially authorized the police to seize all computers and electronic devices for any crime that was committed at any time,” the brief said. “It is difficult to conceive a less particular or more broad case.”
Contributed / Sherburne County Jail
Morgan-Derosier has been connected to former Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks.
The Forum reported on phone records
that showed Holmberg and Morgan-Derosier exchanged dozens of text messages while Morgan-Derosier was jailed in August 2021.
During Morgan-Derosier’s
January 2022 detention hearing,
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl said a “77-year-old man from Grand Forks” texted Morgan-Derosier on Aug. 23, 2021, about bringing Morgan-Derosier’s 19- or 20-year-old boyfriend “over for a massage.” Puhl did not identify the 77-year-old, but the age matched Holmberg’s at the time.
In an interview with The Forum, Holmberg denied asking Morgan-Derosier about a massage but acknowledged he texted Morgan-Derosier about patio work and “a variety of things.”
Other documents and audio recordings revealed Holmberg gave Morgan-Derosier a
ride to Bismarck
shortly after police searched Morgan-Derosier’s home. Once there, Morgan-Derosier spoke with North Dakota consumer protection officials about his business, according to a transcript from the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office. Holmberg attended a legislative energy development and transmission committee meeting that day.
Holmberg was
charged in October 2023
in federal court, with prosecutors saying he
traveled to Prague
multiple times in the 2010s with plans to sexually abuse children. He pleaded guilty to the charge in August.
During that plea hearing,
prosecutors said Holmberg and Morgan-Derosier watched child sex abuse material together.
Holmberg has been
jailed in Minnesota
after
a judge
determined he
violated presentence release conditions.
A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled in his case.
Holmberg served in the North Dakota Senate from 1976 to 2022, when he
resigned shortly after The Forum
broke the story about his connection to Morgan-Derosier.
FARGO, N.D. (KELO) — The Sioux Falls Stampede staved off elimination with a 2-1 overtime win over the Fargo Force in game four of the USHL Western Conference Finals Saturday night.
Thomas Zocco scored the game-winner 12 minutes into the extra period. Arseni Marchenko put Fargo on the board first in the first period. Noah Mannausau tied the game for the Herd in the second period.
Sioux Falls outshot Fargo 53-49, including 9-5 in overtime. Linards Feldbergs made 48 saves.
Three of the four games of the series have gone to overtime. The winner-take-all game five is Tuesday at the Premier Center.
New ballot measure guide to be mailed to North Dakota voters ahead of election
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BISMARCK (North Dakota Monitor) — A federal district court judge indicated he will nullify a nearly $28 million judgment against the federal government related to costs North Dakota incurred during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests so the parties can reach a settlement.
North Dakota is still set to receive a payment Attorney General Drew Wrigley described as satisfactory, but attorneys would not disclose the amount during a Friday hearing.
Attorneys for the United States and North Dakota said the settlement would allow the parties to avoid litigating the case in appeals court,putting the nearly seven-year-old lawsuit to rest.
“We’re hoping we really don’t need to fight any further,” Department of Justice attorney Jonathan Guynn said during the hearing.
The lawsuit, filed in 2019, concerns demonstrations against the construction of the crude oil pipeline, also known as DAPL, that took place in rural south-central North Dakota in 2016 and 2017.
North Dakota claims the federal government caused the protests to grow in size and intensity by unlawfully allowing demonstrators to camp on federal land. The state says it had to pay millions of dollars on policing and cleaning up the encampments as a result. The United States denies the state’s allegations.
North Dakota U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor in April 2025 sided with the state and ordered the executive branch to pay North Dakota the $28 million sum, a decision the U.S. Department of Justice later appealed to the 8th Circuit.
If the settlement moves forward, North Dakota would receive a “substantial monetary payment” from the United States, attorneys said Friday. As a condition of the agreement, the Department of Justice wants Traynor’s judgment and three other orders in which he ruled against the United States to be voided. That includes the court’s 120-page ruling from April 2025.
Both parties said Friday that having the rulings nullified wouldn’t have a significant negative impact on the public, since the documents could still be cited even if they no longer hold the weight of court orders.
At the same time, Guynn said the Department of Justice wants the orders vacated because it doesn’t want the legal conclusions Traynor made to influence the outcome of future lawsuits.
“The downstream consequences of keeping these on the books is troublesome for the United States,” he said during the hearing. If Traynor does not agree to axe the rulings, the United States would likely no longer be willing to settle and move forward with its appeal instead, Guynn added.
Traynor’s orders make findings about the federal government’s responsibility under the Federal Tort Claims Act — the law North Dakota filed the suit under — which the state noted previously in court filings “could have utility holding the federal government to account” in the future.
Still, attorneys for the state said they believe this trade-off is outweighed by the time and money the public would save by not going through the appeals process. North Dakota would also avoid the risk of having Traynor’s judgment overturned by higher courts.
Wrigley said the settlement will be made public once it’s finalized.
The United States’ appeal of Traynor’s decision has been on hold since last summer, when the state and federal government informed the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals they had started settlement negotiations and wished to pause the case.
The 8th Circuit will have to first send the case back to Traynor before he could grant the parties’ requests.
The case went to trial in Bismarck in early 2024. During the four-week trial, the court heard from witnesses including former governors Doug Burgum and Jack Dalrymple, Native activists, federal officials and law enforcement.
The Dakota Access Pipeline carries crude oil from northwest North Dakota to Illinois. It crosses the Missouri River just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, which prompted the tribe to begin protesting the pipeline on the grounds that it poses a threat to its water supply and sovereignty.
North Dakota’s lawsuit originally requested $38 million in damages from the federal government. Traynor ordered the executive branch to pay $28 million since the U.S. Department of Justice previously gave the state $10 million as compensation for costs it spent related to the protests.
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