The man who agreed to plead guilty to a plot to extort more than $1 million from Tom Cruise for stolen photos taken at his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes in Italy was found dead in his home, the AP is reporting.

David Hans Schmidt, 47, was under house arrest and faced up to two years in federal prison. Authorities say it appears that he had committed suicide.

Schmidt, known as the Sultan of Sleaze, was found dead in his Phoenix townhouse on Friday afternoon after police noticed that a tracker placed on him had not moved and he had not checked in with them.

Schmidt was a controversial figure, best known for the deals he brokered to sell salacious celebrity memorabilia, including the contents of a storage unit rented by Paris Hilton, topless photos of rescued U.S. Army POW Pfc. Jessica Lynch, nude photos of Jamie Foxx and a score of videos featuring the sexcapades of stars like Colin Farrell, Tonya Harding (the "wedding night" tape), Divine Brown and Dustin "Screech" Diamond, among others.