photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Markcus Trey Sanders is pictured Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, in Douglas County District Court.

A Kansas City, Kansas, man on Friday was ordered to stand trial for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and aggravated burglary for his alleged role in a June 30, 2022, home invasion in Lawrence.

Markcus Trey Sanders, 30, is accused of robbing a woman at gunpoint, along with his uncle, Chester Brockman, 52, who has already been convicted in the case and is serving a 17-year sentence.

Judge Stacey Donovan found probable cause to order Sanders to trial after the second part of a preliminary hearing. The first part of the hearing occurred on Nov. 25, when the woman described the two men robbing her house of cash and marijuana, as the Journal-World reported.

During the second part of the hearing, on Friday, a Lawrence police officer testified about finding around 2 pounds of marijuana and nearly $2,900 in cash in Sanders’ car, which authorities had stopped with a tactical maneuver, after the reported robbery in the 3000 block of Bainbridge Circle. Another officer testified about what Sanders was wearing when he was booked into jail, which the state contends matches clothes seen on surveillance video.

Sanders pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial is scheduled to begin April 21. He is currently free on a $100,000 bond.

Sanders has two felony convictions for burglary and one conviction for intimidation of a witness, all of which were in 2012 in Douglas County, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.