ATLANTA — A secretary accused of helping two men steal trade secrets from The Coca-Cola Co. and trying to sell them to rival PepsiCo Inc. was ordered released on bond yesterday in a blockbuster case her lawyer likened to "a spy novel."

Joya Williams' co-defendants, a pair of ex-convicts who served time together at a federal prison in Alabama, were detained pending a hearing for all three on Tuesday.

Williams' lawyer, Wanda Jackson, said the defense needs to see the product sample her client allegedly stole to be able to defend her properly. Jackson also suggested the product may not be as secret as Coke has suggested.

"It does sound like something out of a spy novel or movie," Jackson told reporters. "Why would they leave a product in an office that was easily accessible? What was in it?"

Don Samuel, a lawyer for co-defendant Edmund Duhaney, said his client was duped. "I might more accurately characterize it as the two stooges — and my innocent client unwittingly along for the ride — meet Coke," Samuel said.

"I think that getting clearance to work on this case might rival the national security clearance I need to get for a terrorism case."

Williams, Duhaney and Ibrahim Dimson were arrested Wednesday — the day a $1.5 million transaction was to occur.

They are charged with stealing confidential information, including a sample of a new drink, from Coke and trying to sell it to Pepsi.

Williams, who worked as an administrative assistant for a Coke executive at the corporate headquarters in Atlanta, is accused of rifling through corporate files and stuffing documents and a new Coca-Cola product into a personal bag. She has since been fired, the judge said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel Feldman signed a protective order that prevents the defendants from revealing any secrets they know about the company to anyone other than their lawyers.

At the time of the alleged theft, Williams, of Norcross, Ga., had been working for a senior Coke manager, Javier Sanchez Lamelas, who is a global brand director for the beverage giant, the company said. She doesn't have a criminal record, according to her attorney.

Duhaney, of Decatur, Ga., served nearly 5 years of a 7-year sentence for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute at a federal prison in Montgomery, Ala., according to U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesman Mike Truman. He was released in February 2005.

Dimson, of New York, served less than 1 year of a 2-year sentence at the same prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, Truman said. He arrived in 2003 and was released in 2004.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi, usually bitter enemies, say they worked together to foil the plot.

According to prosecutors, on May 19, Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo provided Coke with a copy of a letter mailed to Pepsi in an official Coca-Cola business envelope.

The letter, postmarked from the Bronx in New York, was from an individual identifying himself as "Dirk," who claimed to be employed at a high level with Coca-Cola and offered "very detailed and confidential information." "Dirk" was later identified as Dimson, the FBI says.

Prosecutors say Williams was the source of the information Dimson offered to Pepsi.

Video surveillance showed Williams at her desk at Coke headquarters going through multiple files looking for documents and stuffing them into bags.

She also was observed holding a liquid container with a white label, which resembled the description of a new Coca-Cola product sample, before placing it into her personal bag, prosecutors say.

The prosecution says "Dirk" requested $10,000 for the documents.

Later "Dirk" produced other documents that Coca-Cola confirmed were valid trade secrets of Coca-Cola. He also agreed to be paid $75,000 for the purchase of a highly confidential product sample from a new Coca-Cola project, prosecutors said.

During a meeting at the Atlanta airport, an undercover agent later paid "Dirk" part of that money, placing the cash inside a yellow Girl Scout cookie box.

"Dirk" handed the agent some documents in an Armani bag and the Coke product sample, an FBI affidavit says.

Then on June 27, an undercover FBI agent offered to buy other trade secret items for $1.5 million from "Dirk."

The same day a bank account was opened under the names of Duhaney and Dimson, and the address used on the account was that of Duhaney's residence, prosecutors said.