NEW YORK (TNND) — Opening statements in the federal sex-trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs are expected to begin Monday after a final phase of jury selection.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment, including sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, transportation for purposes of prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy. Combs faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on all charges.

The embattled music mogul was arrested in September 2024, about roughly six months after federal authorities raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

Lawyers for the three-time Grammy winner say prosecutors are wrongly trying to make a crime out of a party-loving lifestyle that may have been indulgent, but was not illegal.

Prosecutors say Combs coerced women into drugged-up group sexual encounters, then kept them in line through violence. He is accused of choking, hitting, kicking and dragging women, often by the hair.

An unsealed indictment accused Combs of "abusing, threatening and coercing victims to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct" between at least 2008 and the present.

"Sean Combs led and participated in a racketeering conspiracy that used the business empire he controlled to carry out criminal activity, including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery and the obstruction of justice," the indictment read.

Further details revealed sex performances known as "freak offs" where Combs allegedly organized transportation of commercial sex workers across state lines and internationally. Victims were reportedly given party drugs during extended sex performances.

There are four alleged victims expected to testify during the trial. In the indictment, they are identified as “Victim-1,” “Victim-2,” “Victim-3,” and “Victim-4,” as all of Combs’ accusers have not been named publicly.

However, the allegations of Victim-1 align closely with those of his ex-girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, an R&B singer who goes by the stage name “Cassie.”

Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in November 2023, accusing the artist of rape and repeated physical abuse over roughly a decade. The lawsuit was settled privately without Combs commenting on the allegations or admitting wrongdoing.

Ventura’s allegations garnered a lot of attention after CNN aired hotel surveillance footage from 2016, showing Combs beating, kicking and dragging Ventura.

The judge in the case ruled that the video can be shown as evidence during the trial despite Combs’ lawyer’s attempts to get it excluded, arguing in part that it is “wholly inaccurate” and altered. CNN has strongly denied any claims altering the footage.

The trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks, five days a week, Monday through Friday.

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Editor's note: The National News Desk's Anissa Reyes contributed to this article.