PARKSLEY, Va. - A man convicted of three DUIs in a span of just over three years in Accomack County has been indicted on a federal charge of illegal reentry after prosecutors say he was removed from the country five times before.
According to court documents acquired by WBOC, Ernesto Tema Baltazar had been deported from various locations across the United States five separate times between 2013 and 2023. Prosecutors say his most recent removal was from Phoenix, AZ in June of 2023.
Though the federal indictment says Tema Baltazar was found in Accomack County on Dec. 2, 2024, his criminal record there dates back to 2021, according to court records. On Oct. 30, 2021, Tema Baltazar was arrested on a DUI charge . A second misdemeanor DUI charge was filed in January of 2023. He was later sentenced to 120 days for the offense with all but 20 suspended.
Tema Baltazar was deported from Phoenix months later, according to federal prosecutors.
On Nov. 30, 2024, Tema Baltazar was again arrested in Accomack for a third DUI, this time a felony, online records read. He was later indicted by a grand jury in February of 2025 and eventually pleaded guilty.
In all three instances, Tema Baltazar is listed with a Parksley address in the Accomack General District Court system.
Tema Baltazar had an arraignment scheduled for Aug. 11, 2025 in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in connection to the illegal reentry charge against him, according to court documents, but failed to appear.
On Wednesday, March 25, 2026, Tema Baltazar appeared before the U.S. District Court in Norfolk and was ordered detained and remanded to the U.S. Marshal’s Service due to his previous failure to appear.
He entered a plea of not guilty to the illegal reentry charge against him and demanded a jury trial during his arraignment on Wednesday.