NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs used “power, violence, and fear” as the head of a decades-old criminal enterprise, a prosecutor said Thursday in closing arguments in his high-profile trial.

“He counted on silence and shame to keep his crimes hidden,” Christy Slavik told the jury as the Government began wrapping up its case against the once-powerful music mogul.

The 55-year-old Combs was seated behind the prosecutor as she delivered her closing arguments, passing an occasional message to his lawyers.

Slavik methodically walked the jury through the charges against Combs, which include racketeering and sex trafficking.

He relied on a network of “loyal lieutenants”, she said.

“He became more powerful and more dangerous because of the support of his inner circle and his businesses,” she said. “This is Mr Combs’s kingdom.”

Slavik told the jury the case was not about criminalizing unorthodox sex.

“It’s not about free choices at all,” she said.

The women involved were “drugged, covered in oil, sore, exhausted” as Combs made them have sex with escorts for hours, she said.

The most serious charge, racketeering, which includes the existence of a criminal enterprise that committed a pattern of offences, could send Combs to prison for life.

He faces two charges of sex trafficking and two more for transportation for purposes of prostitution.

Combs denies it all. His lawyers have argued that the artiste’s relationships were consensual and have sought to convince jurors that many of the witnesses who testified were doing so for financial gain or jealousy.

Combs opted against testifying on his own behalf, a common strategy of defence teams who are not required to prove innocence, only to cast doubt on government allegations of guilt.

The Government’s evidence included thousands of pages of phone and text records, and hours of testimony involved meticulous readings of some of the most explicit and wrenching exchanges.

Jurors have seen video evidence of the sex parties prosecutors say were criminal, while the defence has exhibited exchanges they say imply consent.

Also in evidence are reams of financial records, including CashApp payments to escorts, as well as flight and hotel records.

Combs is incarcerated and does not enter or exit the courthouse publicly. But some of the high-profile attendees and witnesses do, including members of the music mogul’s family and figures like Kid Cudi, the rapper who testified that Combs’s entourage torched his car.

The defence is likely to start its closing on Friday.

The jury of 12 New Yorkers could get the case as early as Friday afternoon.