In the four years since attempted rape accusations derailed his presidential ambitions, Dominique Strauss-Kahn has managed to dodge criminal cases over his sex life. That ended Monday as he stood before French judges for his role in an international prostitution ring.

Strauss-Kahn is one of 14 men and women on trial in the so- called Carlton Affair, known for the four-star hotel in the northern French city of Lille where some of the alleged encounters took place and some of the defendants worked.

Since resigning as managing director of the International Monetary Fund in 2011 while in jail for allegedly sexually assaulting a New York hotel maid, the 65-year-old has struggled in the private sector. In October, he stepped down from an investment firm days before his business partner died in an apparent suicide. Leyne Strauss Kahn & Partners declared bankruptcy days later and Luxembourg is investigating the firm’s collapse.

“It’s part of this soap opera, or human tragedy, depending on how you look at it, of someone who could have become the next president of France,” said Christopher Mesnooh, a lawyer in Paris who isn’t involved in Strauss-Kahn’s cases. “To call it Shakespearean is probably an understatement.”

A former French finance minister, Strauss-Kahn was once the leading Socialist to replace Nicolas Sarkozy as president. While he reached a civil settlement with the woman in New York after the criminal case was dropped, and had a subsequent attempted rape investigation in Paris closed over statute of limitations issues, his presidential chances were through.

10 Years

Strauss-Kahn was charged with “aggravated pimping” in the Lille case in 2012, as investigators said he played an organizing role in the ring. While prostitution and paying for sex aren’t illegal in France, procuring prostitutes for others is.

Strauss-Kahn arrived quietly through a side entry, avoiding the crowds of journalists, and his lawyers declined to comment as they entered.

The accusations “contradict all good legal sense,” his defense team said in a December 2012 statement. Strauss-Kahn told French daily Le Parisien in October that he was “serene” about the trial and was confident the court will clear him.

The trial will run through Feb. 20, and may be extended by a week, though the judges’ verdict will come later, according to a court spokesman. If convicted, he could face 10 years in jail and a 1.5 million-euro ($1.7 million) fine.

A six-month suspended sentence would be more likely if he’s found guilty, said Stephane Bonifassi, a lawyer at Lebray & Associates in Paris who isn’t involved in the case. Regardless, Strauss-Kahn will struggle to revive his career a third time, he said.

“DSK is now on the fringe,” he said. “Enough is enough.”