FRANCE-PROSTITUTION-STRAUSSKAHN-TRIAL

The sign of the Carlton Hotel is lit up in Lille, on January 30, 2015. As part of the probe into Dominique Alderweireld or "Dodo la Saumure", a convicted pimp who runs brothels in Belgium, police have uncovered an alleged cross-border prostitution ring involving the managers of the luxury Carlton hotel in Lille, local business leaders and police officials. For International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, accused of allegedly raping a hotel maid in 2011 in New York, the case will come down to whether the court thinks he was aware women provided the sex ring were prostitutes, acted as a pimp by providing an apartment for the sex parties, and initiated the orgies. The pimping charge against Strauss-Kahn is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million). AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN (Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP) (Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP via Getty Images)