In a shocking turn of events, Stewart Rosenwasser, a 72-year-old retired judge and former prosecutor from Campbell Hall, New York, took his own life on Tuesday.
This occurred as FBI agents arrived at his residence to apprehend him for his alleged involvement in a federal bribery scheme. According to reports, Rosenwasser fired shots at the federal agents before fatally shooting himself.
As reported by The Post Millennial, Rosenwasser was under federal scrutiny for allegedly accepting bribes amounting to $63,000 in a case he presided over during his tenure at the Orange County District Attorney's Office. The charges leveled against him included extortion, conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud, and making false statements to the FBI.
In a press release, the FBI stated, "The FBI is reviewing an agent-involved shooting that occurred earlier this morning in Campbell Hall, NY. The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents seriously." The agency further added, "In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under review by the FBI's Inspection Division. As this is an ongoing matter, we have no further details to provide."
The allegations against Rosenwasser originated from a case in October 2022, where a man, Moutz "Marty" Soudani, sued his own family for allegedly stealing money from him. The indictment, unsealed following Rosenwasser's death, revealed that Soudani had accused his sister, Eman, and his nephew, Martin, of pilfering $1.9 million from him. Federal investigators claimed that Rosenwasser was paid to prosecute the case against Soudani's family. Martin was imprisoned last year after admitting to taking $1.6 million from his uncle, serving a two-month sentence. However, the charges against Eman were subsequently dropped.
The indictment further revealed that Rosenwasser had texted Soudani after receiving a $15,000 payment, assuring him, "I give my word at the end you will be extremely more than happy." Following the arrest of Martin and Eman, Rosenwasser informed Soudani that they could no longer communicate via text and would only converse through phone calls. Martin's legal representative is currently seeking post-conviction relief, challenging the legitimacy of the conviction, and requesting the judgment be vacated. They are also reportedly planning to file a $22.5 million lawsuit against Rosenwasser, County DA David Hoovler, the Chief Assistant DA, and the DA's office for alleged malicious prosecution.
Rosenwasser resigned from his position at the district attorney's office just three days after being interviewed by the FBI in June. Prior to his role as a prosecutor in the Orange County DA's Office, he served as an acting New York state Supreme Court Justice and county court judge.
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