krmg.com
The Associated Press
Updated: 3:01 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012

TUCSON, Ariz. —

A judge has rescheduled the sentencing for a southern Arizona contractor who pleaded guilty last year to knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

Ivan Hardt, president and owner of Sun Dry Wall & Stucco Inc. of Sierra Vista, will now be sentenced on Feb. 28 for his misdemeanor conviction for illegal hiring.

Hardt faces up to six months in jail for the misdemeanor conviction.

His felony conviction for conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants will be dropped if he pays $450,000.

That amount would cover proceeds that the company received during the time the illegal immigrants were employed there and another $225,000 to settle a civil dispute with the government over its payment to its legal and illegal workers.

http://www.krmg.com/ap/ap/crime/sent...ng-case/nGHTq/