A jury on Wednesday convicted a Lawrence man of one in a series of burglary charges he has racked up in recent months while out of jail on bond.

Jurors in District Court deliberated less than three hours before convicting Richard E. Elston Jr., 30, of a home burglary and theft last fall near Eudora.

“We’re glad we got a conviction on him, and we are going to actively pursue the additional cases that we have on him,” District Attorney Charles Branson said. “Quite frankly, we believe he needs to be behind bars based on his actions.”

Elston, who had been free on bond pending trial, was taken into custody after the verdict and had his bond revoked by Judge Michael Malone.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 2. Elston faces 32 months in prison for the burglary charge under state sentencing guidelines and up to a year in jail for the theft charge.

The charges arose when a woman arrived Sept. 19 at her rural home on East 1850 Road and found a car in her driveway and a suspect in her yard. After he drove off, she gave officers a description of the vehicle and a tag number, which led to a search of Elston’s home on New Jersey Street.

Elston was arrested later that day, but he got out of jail Sept. 20 after posting a $3,250 bond, according to court records.

At the time, he had charges pending from a June 6 auto burglary and had been released from jail on a $3,000 bond. That case has since been dismissed.

On the day after Thanksgiving, prosecutors allege Elston broke into an apartment at Westgate Apartments, 4641 W. Sixth St., stole a bank card and used it to buy hundreds of dollars of merchandise at Wal-Mart.

He was charged in that case Nov. 27 and released Dec. 7 on $5,000 bond.

Later in December, he was charged with a Nov. 23 burglary that had been under investigation by police. He was arrested again but released from jail Dec. 28 on $25,000 bond.

Elston is scheduled to be in court Feb. 2 for a hearing on the back-to-back November burglary charges, which are still pending.