Dutchman Joran van der Sloot is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday before a Peruvian court where he is likely to admit having killed a young woman in May 2010, according to his attorney.

Last week, he told the court he needed more time to think about his plea.

"It can be said that things are on track," Jose Luis Jimenez, Van der Sloot's attorney, told AFP.

The defense attorney said Van der Sloot would be ready to fully admit the prosecution's charges that blame him for killing Stephany Flores, 21, "with cruelty and ferocity" in a Lima hotel on May 30, 2010 after they met playing poker in a casino.

She was found dead after being beaten and strangled.

The prosecution is asking that Van der Sloot be sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The case is being closely followed in the United States because the accused is considered a suspect in the May 2005 disappearance of 18-year-old American college student Natalee Holloway while she vacationed in Aruba.

Van der Sloot was arrested in the case but released because of a lack of evidence against him. Holloway's body never has been found.

"So far, we are headed in that direction (of a guilty plea), nothing special has changed," said Jimenez, who said he would have a final meeting with the accused before the hearing Wednesday.

"You don't have to be very smart to know where it's going," he said.

Admitting guilt would allow Van der Sloot, 24, to qualify for an "early termination" of his case, which comes with benefits under Peruvian law such as a reduced sentence and authorized leave from prison.

If he pleads guilty, the court has jurisdiction to sentence him within 48 hours.

Edward Alvarez, lawyer for the family of the victim, told AFP that a guilty plea by Van der Sloot would most likely result in "a reduction in penalty from 30 to 29 or 28 years."

If Van der Sloot denies the charges, he would be go through a legal process that could make him subject to potential life imprisonment.

"If during the trial evidence arises that it was a robbery with death consecutively, he could be charged with robbery followed by death, which is punishable by life imprisonment," Alvarez said.

He disagreed with Van der Sloot's attorney, who estimated days ago that his client could have his sentence reduced by 15 years with a guilty plea.

"That's absurd," said Alvarez, who said a reduced sentence is "at the discretion of the court."

He also said Van der Sloot was unlikely to receive the kinds of prison privileges granted in the Netherlands because examinations of him determined he was a "psychopath" who represented a danger to society if he was freed.

During a hearing Friday before Judge Victoria Montoya, Van der Sloot said he might be willing to make a sincere confession, but that he did not agree with charges he acted with "cruelty and ferocity." He then asked the court for more time to think about his plea.