Glee star Mark Salling dead at 35

Actor Mark Salling, best known for his role in musical comedy-drama "

Glee

", has died. He was 35.

His attorney confirmed the news in a statement.

"I can confirm that Mark Salling passed away early this morning. Mark was a gentle and loving person, a person of great creativity, who was doing his best to atone for some serious mistakes and errors of judgment," attorney Michael Proctor said in a statement.

According to a news portal, Salling died of an apparent suicide by hanging, and was found near a riverbed adjacent to a little league baseball field in the Tujunga neighbourhood of LA. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, however, could not confirm the death until next of kin is informed. Official's said his death is being investigated as a suicide.

Salling pleaded guilty last October to possession of child abuse images, and his sentencing was scheduled for March 7. After his arrest in December 2015, Salling, best known for playing

Noah Puckerman

on the hit TV series, was indicted in May 2016 after a search warrant led to the discovery of over 50,000 images on his computer and flashdrive.

He was dropped from the film "Gods and Secrets" after his child porn indictment.

In a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, Salling was to face four to seven years in prison to avoid a maximum sentence of 20 years. Salling was ordered to pay each of his victims USD 50,000 and register as a sex offender. In March, Salling reached a separate USD 2.7m settlement with a woman who sued him for sexual battery.