Stewart Rosenwasser former prosecutor and retired judge shoots self at Campbell Hall, NY home after FBI come to arrest man following corruption and embezzlement probe involving another man, Mout’z ‘Marty’ Soudani who had paid off the prosecutor investigating his nephew.
A former prosecutor and retired judge in Orange County, NY accused of taking bribes in a high profile embezzlement case killed himself Tuesday as the FBI arrived at his home to arrest him.
Authorities arrived at Stewart Rosenwasser‘s home in Campbell Hall to arrest him as part of a corruption case, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Rosenwasser had been under investigation for taking bribes and had only recently vacated his position with the Orange County District Attorney’s office in June.
Abuse of position and authority
Leading up to the former ‘top judge’ killing himself, gunfire was exchanged at the suspect’s home, according to the FBI, which released the following statement:
‘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. 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.’
Rosenwasser has been charged with abusing the authority of his job at the Orange County DA’s office by accepting $63,000 in bribe payments to investigate and prosecute two individuals who are related to the man who allegedly paid the bribes, Mout’z Soudani.
Of note, Mout’z ‘Marty’ Soudani, nephew Martin Soudani was last year jailed for stealing $1.9 million from his uncle according to the Times Union.
Mout’z had accused both his sister, Eman, and his nephew of stealing the money from him October 2022.
The charges against Eman were dropped, and Martin later pleaded guilty to taking $1.6 million from his uncle and served two months in behind bars.
Illicit conviction greased by $68K bribe
The entire case against the two was prosecuted after Mout’z paid Rosenwasser to go after his own family, according to federal investigators.
Martin’s lawyers were seeking post-conviction relief by challenging the legality of the conviction and requesting the judgement be vacated.
Rosenwasser was facing an imminent lawsuit involving $48,000 in bribes he allegedly took (the sum involved turned out to be a larger sum of $63K). Rosenwasser and Soudani were indicted and charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and honest services wire fraud.
Rosenwasser was also charged with extortion and making false statements to the FBI after he was interviewed in June.
Three days after his interview he abruptly quit his job at the District Attorney’s Office where he had worked for five years.
Rosenwasser had served as a judge for seven years from 1999 to 2006 and during that time was an acting justice for the New York State Supreme Court, the Empire State’s trial courts.
When he retired in 2006, the former judge, known as ‘Maximum Stew’ for handing out stiff sentences to violent criminals, said one of his reasons for a new career path was not getting a raise on his salary of six-figure salary for seven years, the Times Herald-Record previously reported.
Federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York have declined to comment.
