Retired NY judge kills self during firefight with FBI after agents attempt to raid his home in connection with alleged bribery scheme

A former prosecutor and retired New York judge shot himself to death on Tuesday when FBI agents arrived at his home to arrest him over his alleged role in a federal bribery scheme. Stewart Rosenwasser, 72, of Campbell Hall, reportedly shot at federal agents before turning the gun on himself, authorities said.

Rosenwasser was accused by the federal government of accepting $63,000 in bribes for a previous case he oversaw as a public prosecutor while working at the Orange County District Attorney's Office. He was facing charges of extortion, conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud, and making false statements to the FBI.

"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 wrote in a press release, as reported by the Daily Mail. "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 the embattled judge stemmed from an Oct. 2022 case that involved a man suing his own family for stealing money from him, according to an indictment unsealed shortly after Rosenwasser's death.

Moutz "Marty" Soudani had accused his sister, Eman, and his nephew, Martin, of stealing $1.9 million from him. Federal investigators said that the case was prosecuted only after Moutz paid Rosenwasser to go after his own family. Martin was jailed last year after pleading guilty to taking $1.6 million from his uncle. He spent two months behind bars. The charges were dropped against Eman.
 

According to the indictment, the ex-prosecutor texted Moutz after being paid $15,000: "I give my word at the end you will be extremely more than happy." In a follow-up text after Martin and Eman were arrested, Rosenwasser said they could no longer text each other and that he would only communicate with Moutz via phone calls.

Martin's attorney is attempting to obtain post-conviction relief by contesting the validity of the conviction and requesting that the judgment be vacated. Additionally, they are purportedly attempting to file a $22.5 million lawsuit against Rosenwasser, the County DA David Hoovler, the Chief Assistant DA, and the DA's office for an alleged malicious prosecution.

Rosenwasser quit his job with the district attorney's office three days after being interviewed by the FBI in June. He was a former acting New York state Supreme Court Justice and county court judge before taking a job as a prosecutor in the Orange County DA's Office.