Stewart Rosenwasser, a retired Orange County judge and former prosecutor, died Tuesday morning of an apparent suicide after exchanging gunfire with FBI agents at his Campbell Hall residence.
The deadly incident occurred as federal agents attempted to arrest Rosenwasser on corruption and bribery charges.
“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 FBI said in a statement.
“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.”
According to law enforcement sources, the incident unfolded around 9:30 am when FBI agents arrived at Rosenwasser’s home to execute an arrest warrant. The situation quickly escalated with reports of shots fired.
A neighbor, Linn Cartagena, described the scene: “I was standing by the front door, my friend went outside the front door and they screamed at us to get in the house.” Gunfire erupted shortly thereafter.
The deadly exchange came just one day after a federal grand jury indicted Rosenwasser on charges of accepting bribes to manipulate a legal case. The 43-page indictment said that Rosenwasser accepted $63,000 in payoffs to investigate and prosecute two individuals related to Mout’z Soudani, a millionaire businessman who allegedly paid the bribes.
The indictment details a complex scheme involving embezzlement claims and alleged abuse of prosecutorial power.
According to the document, Rosenwasser texted Soudani on November 18, 2022, saying, “Believe me. I’m putting maximum effort into this. We will utilize all available assets.”
On March 8, 2023, he charged Soudani’s sister and nephew with grand larceny for allegedly stealing $1.6 million from Mout’z Soudani. Despite requests for recusal due to a potential conflict of interest, Rosenwasser remained on the case until June 2023.
The corruption allegations have sent shockwaves through the local legal community.
Before the incident, Rosenwasser had a long and distinguished career, serving as a private attorney, assistant district attorney in the 1970s, Orange County Court judge, and acting Supreme Court justice for six years. He was rehired by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office in 2019 as special counsel for policy research but abruptly resigned last June, citing his intent to “retire from the practice of law.”
In addition to the federal charges, Rosenwasser was facing a $22.5 million civil lawsuit related to the alleged bribery scheme. Court filings in the lawsuit claim the case “may present the most blatant example of prosecutorial corruption and fraud in the annals of New York case law.”
The circumstances surrounding Rosenwasser’s death remain unclear. While initial reports suggested suicide, Rosenwasser’s son, Jason, questioned this narrative in an email to The New York Post.
“The only thing I feel compelled to point out is that the local news headlines are reporting that my father fatally shot himself while also reporting in the same article that the FBI field office issued a statement calling it an agent-involved shooting,” he wrote.
The Orange County District Attorney’s office has stated that other cases handled by Rosenwasser were reviewed, and nothing improper was found.
NEW: Retired New York judge and former prosecutor kill-d himself after a shootout with FBI agents attempting to arrest him on corruption charges
Stewart Rosenwasser allegedly shot at FBI agents who approached his Orange County home before dying by apparent suicide shortly after… pic.twitter.com/yF1VmQ8oB9
— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) September 24, 2024