A 31-year-old Tucson man was sentenced to 544 years in prison Monday in the rapes of two UA students 18 months apart.

Manuel L. Garcia was convicted in July of 19 felony counts, but Pima County Superior Court Judge John Leonardo was forced to issue a warrant for his arrest because he cut off his GPS ankle monitor while jurors were deliberating his fate.

Garcia was found and rearrested in August.

During Garcia’s trial, Deputy Pima County Attorney Carolyn Nedder presented evidence she said proved Garcia slipped into the homes of two University of Arizona students while they were sleeping and raped them. In both instances, the man threatened their lives and stole their cell phones before disappearing before dawn.

Garcia was arrested in June 2009 after he was convicted on drug charges and his DNA was entered into a database and matched with the sexual assault cases.

Garcia was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary and aggravated assault in the attacks, which occurred near the UA on Dec. 31, 2005, and June 6, 2007.