A lawyer for one of 11 people accused of spying for Russia says their case could be resolved as early as Thursday.
A fugitive and 10 people whose US arrests were announced by federal authorities a week ago were formally charged in a federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday.
The indictment charges all of them with conspiring to act as secret agents and charges nine of them with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Attorney Robert Baum represents defendant Anna Chapman, branded a femme fatale in tabloid newspaper stories. He says the case might be settled when she and the other nine people arrested in the United States appear for arraignment on the indictment, raising the possibility of guilty pleas to the lowest charges and deportation from the country.
Chapman and the other arrested defendants are scheduled to be arraigned by Thursday afternoon.