Arizona Republic:  “A southern Arizona contractor who pleaded guilty to knowingly hiring illegal immigrants was sentenced to probation Thursday in the first case in the state in which authorities pursued criminal charges instead of just fines against an employer in an illegal-hiring case.  Ivan Hardt, owner of Sun Dry Wall & Stucco Inc. of Sierra Vista, was sentenced in Tucson by U.S. District Judge Raner Collins to one year of probation for the misdemeanor conviction.  The . . . felony charge will be dismissed if he pays the government $450,000.”