PHOENIX --A publicist known for brokering deals involving compromising celebrity photos and videos has been found dead in his Phoenix home, authorities said.
Police said Friday that it appeared David Hans Schmidt committed suicide.
Schmidt, 47, was under house arrest after agreeing last month to plead guilty in a plot to extort more than $1 million from Tom Cruise for the actor's stolen wedding photos.
Schmidt was free on $100,000 bond but faced up to two years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine under a plea agreement filed Aug. 24 in a Los Angeles court.
Authorities went to Schmidt's townhouse around 3 p.m. MST Friday when they noticed a tracker placed on him had not moved and he had not checked in, said Phoenix police Lt. Anthony Lopez.
Schmidt was arrested in July after federal authorities said a co-defendant obtained photos of Cruise's wedding in Italy last year to Katie Holmes from the event's official photographer, court documents show.
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Starting in May, Schmidt had repeated contact with Cruise representatives and threatened to release the photos if he didn't receive between $1.2 and $1.3 million, authorities said.
Schmidt also tried to auction off Paris Hilton's diaries, along with photos of her in various stages of undress and other personal items that had been locked away in a Los Angeles-area storage locker until a few months ago.
He also claimed to have brokered deals to sell a sex video of Dustin Diamond, who played Screech on "Saved by the Bell," and a video of skater Tonya Harding's wedding night, according to published reports.
He also claimed to have obtained topless shots of rescued U.S. Army POW Pfc. Jessica Lynch.
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