The grand jury that has been hearing evidence in the long-running police ticket-fixing investigation is expected to begin deciding on charges in the case as early as Tuesday, and people with knowledge of the matter said as many as 17 officers — among them a lieutenant and two sergeants —would most likely face charges.

Prosecutors in the office of the Bronx district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, were expected to seek charges of grand larceny and tampering with public records against as many as 10 officers, all officials of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, for allegedly fixing tickets, the people said. That group includes three senior officials, who hold the union position of trustee or financial secretary in the Bronx, and six or seven precinct delegates.

Prosecutors were also expected to ask the grand jury to charge as many as seven other officers, possibly including a lieutenant who is suspected of leaking sensitive information about the case, two of the people said.

The lieutenant, who was deeply involved in the early stages of the case while she was assigned to the Internal Affairs Bureau, was later transferred to a Bronx precinct, a move that preceded the accusations against her, the two people said. The investigation, focused on several precincts in the Bronx, found widespread instances of ticket-fixing, in which union delegates or trustees sought to make traffic tickets disappear.

The trustees do not work as police officers, having been released to spend all their time on union business, while the delegates are working officers.

More than two dozen wiretaps were placed, half of them on the phones of police officers.

And although many of the instances of ticket-fixing were not expected to result in criminal prosecution, more than 550 Police Department employees have been implicated in misconduct and could potentially face administrative charges, one of the people said, though it is quite likely that the 18-month statute of limitations for such matters has lapsed in some of the cases.

The district attorney’s office was expected to seek criminal charges against three other officers and a sergeant for allegedly covering up an assault by a store owner with whom they had a relationship, one of the people said. Prosecutors were also expected to ask the panel to indict another officer suspected of aiding a drug dealer, one of the people said.

An anonymous complaint against that officer, accusing him in late 2008 of involvement with a man investigators believed was a Bronx drug dealer, led to the ticket inquiry, according to several people with knowledge of the matter. In early 2009, an investigation led to a wiretap on the officer’s cellphone, which he frequently used to discuss criminal business at the Bronx barbershop that he owned, several people said.

The officer, Jose Ramos of the 40th Precinct, was overheard talking about fixing a ticket in mid-2009, leading to the expansion of the inquiry, several people briefed on the matter have said. It initially focused on dozens of officers, but grew to encompass hundreds, for violations of departmental rules, the people said.

The panel has been hearing evidence on and off since March, meeting four days a week at times. Several people with knowledge of the matter said it would probably take several days, if not longer, for them to be instructed on the law and finish voting on all of the charges. Several people who are not police officers will also be named in the indictment or indictments, one of the people said.

Among those expected to be charged is the reputed drug dealer with whom Officer Ramos was supposed to be close.

The first wiretap eventually led to more than two dozen more, roughly half of them on the telephones of officers; one officer had two phones that were tapped, two people said. All of the wiretaps on officers except one were on cellphones, one person said.

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