Pair face blackmail charge over Cruise wedding photos

Two men have been charged with plotting to extort more than US$1m (€682,351) from Tom Cruise for the actor’s stolen wedding photographs.

David Schmidt, known for brokering deals involving compromising celebrity photos and videos, was charged with sending communications for purposes of extortion, according to a criminal complaint.

Marc Gittleman, who authorities say helped recover photos from a computer disk, was charged with conspiracy to commit extortion, the complaint said.

Schmidt, 47, was arrested by US government agents on Tuesday, while Gittleman, 33, was taken into custody on Thursday night, the FBI said.

Schmidt allegedly approached Cruise’s representatives about six weeks ago with photos from the actor’s Italian wedding last year to Katie Holmes, the actor’s lawyer, Bertram Fields, has said. The FBI was then contacted.