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Three more Panda Express employees who pleaded guilty last month to criminal impersonation were sentenced Wednesday to the time they've already served in jail.

Because Jose Pichardo Rivera, Juan Fontes-Trujillo and Rudy Garzal-Salas have already been through the voluntary deportation process, the men appeared for their sentencing hearing in Judge Frank Dawley's courtroom via telephone from Nogales, Sonora.

The three were among 11 Panda Express employees indicted on a single count of aggravated taking the identity of another, but later pleaded guilty to the less serious crime of criminal impersonation.

According to court documents, the Arizona Department of Public Safety received a tip in December 2007 that Marlen Yobana Moreno-Peralta, 24, had gotten a job at the Panda Express, 2485 N. Swan Road, Suite 101, using a fictitious Social Security card.

Authorities obtained a list of all of the employees working at the restaurant, along with their Social Security numbers.

Assistant Attorney General John Evans said an investigation revealed 11 of the employees were using Social Security numbers that didn't appear to be associated with their name, and they were arrested on March 18.

To date, Dawley has sentenced eight of the 11 defendants, including Moreno-Peralta, to the 112 days they already served in jail and designated the crime a misdemeanor. Most of the defendants were also ordered to pay $400 in attorneys fees and a $25 indigent defense fee.

The judge could have placed the defendants on probation or sentenced them to up to two years in prison. He also could have designated the crime a felony.

All of the defendants' attorneys have told Dawley their clients never intended to hurt anyone, and they just wanted to work so they could provide for their families. Most, they said, didn't know they were committing a crime and none of them have a criminal history.

Defense attorney Darlene Chavera Chavez reiterated Wednesday what the other attorneys have said — residents of Mexico have been coming to the U.S. to work for decades and they've paid into the Social Security system.

"They created no harm," Chavez said.

All 11 defendants were transferred from the Pima County jail to federal custody before their sentencing.

At least five have posted federal bonds and intend to seek residency status, said Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia. Two still remain in federal custody and also hope to achieve residency status. The remaining defendants have been deported, some voluntarily and some not, Garcia said.

Of the three defendants awaiting sentencing, two are in custody, and one posted a $20,000 bond, Garcia said.

Evans has said the plea agreements saved the state the expense of going to trial and allowed the defendants to begin their fight in immigration court.