Australian casino operator Crown Resorts is one step closer to learning the fate of its staffers who were detained in China last year for allegedly promoting illegal gambling activities.

On Wednesday, the Australian Financial Review reported that Chinese authorities had officially finalized their investigation of the 18 Crown-affiliated staffers arrested last October for suspected “gambling-related crimes” and handed the case to a Shanghai prosecutor two weeks ago.

The AFR quoted Shanghai lawyer Si Weijiang saying the fact that the police had turned the case over to the Baoshan District People’s Procurator rather than a city-level prosecutor “implies a less severe or shorter sentence.”

The working theory is that the accused will face charges of promoting gambling – which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison – instead of the far more serious crime of money laundering. The hope is that the Crown staff will eventually be sentenced to time served, similar to the fate of the South Korean casino promoters arrested in 2015 for similar transgressions then released after 18 months in detention.