TUCSON, Ariz. — Bernard Ortiz, 55, was arrested Saturday for allegedly stalking pop and country singer Linda Ronstadt.

Ortiz, who was being held in a Phoenix jail Sunday on $256,000 bond, is scheduled to face charges Wednesday in Tucson.

The arrest took place hours before the singer was scheduled to take the stage for a live broadcast of the popular public radio program Prairie Home Companion, due to unfold at the Sundome Center for the Performing Arts in Sun City West, Arizona.

Bernard Ortiz has been sending Ronstadt cards and love letters for years, the Associated Press reported. He was sentenced to a 10-month prison term in August 1998 for stalking her.

Ronstadt, who scored hits in the '70s and '80s with such songs as "Blue Bayou" and "You're No Good," has in recent years remained close to her home base in Tucson, making only the rare guest appearance with longtime musical cohorts the Eagles and Emmylou Harris. Last fall, Harris persuaded the singer to join her on a brief tour supporting their duet record Western Wall, Ronstadt's most recent project.

The entertainer otherwise maintains a low profile, working on projects in her home studio and raising her two school-age children.

"Basically, I'm a stay-at-home mom these days, real involved in what to fix my kids for dinner, and in playing games and doing music with them," she said during the Western Wall tour.