Trial is set to begin Feb. 1 for a Lawrence man in U.S. District Court facing up to 45 years in prison on gun and drug charges.

Thomas R. Peterson, 24, is charged with crimes including being a felon in possession of a firearm, receiving a stolen firearm, and possession with intent to distribute marijuana and cocaine.

A co-defendant, James B. Waterman, already has been sentenced to two years in prison. In a plea agreement reached last summer, he admitted that Peterson drove him from Lawrence to Lenexa on Nov. 7, 2005, in a stolen van and that there was a stolen .38 caliber revolver in the vehicle.

Peterson made news in summer 2005 when he was arrested three times in one month – twice for leading police on high-speed chases and once for burglarizing cars – all while he was free on bond in a cocaine-dealing case in Douglas County. After each arrest, he was released on bond and charged with a new crime while out of jail.