'Sultan of Sleaze' arrested over Tom Cruise photos

LOS ANGELES, July 27 (Reuters) A celebrity porn broker dubbed the ''Sultan of Sleaze'' has been arrested over accusations he tried to sell film star Tom Cruise stolen photos of his wedding to actress Katie Holmes, published reports said.

David Hans Schmidt, best known for arranging the sale of celebrity sex tapes and nude photos, was taken into custody by the FBI on Tuesday and was being held in Los Angeles, Web site The Smoking Gun (http://www.thesmokinggun.com) reported.

Schmidt was arrested over allegations he tried to sell Cruise a large cache of private photos from his 2006 wedding for 1 million dollars, the Web site reported.

Cruise's attorney, Bert Fields, told The Smoking Gun that Schmidt approached the actor's representatives earlier this year about the photos, which had been stolen, and that they immediately contacted federal authorities.

Fields could not be reached for comment by Reuters. A spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles also could not be reached.

US Bureau of Prisons records showed that Schmidt, 47, was in federal custody in Los Angeles and was being held on 100,000 bond dollars.

REUTERS AE DS1130