Former Orange County prosecutor takes his own life when FBI arrive to arrest him

Stewart Rosenwasser, a one-time Orange County judge as well as an assistant Orange County district attorney, took his own life Tuesday morning in an exchange of gun fire with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation at his home off Route 416 in Campbell Hall.

He was 72 years old.

Traffic slowed to a crawl Tuesday morning along the two-lane state highway as the FBI, state police and other law enforcement personnel descended on Rosenwasser’s residence. The home is located on the property, which includes the former headquarters of Ottaway Newspapers, Inc., and just several miles from Thomas Bull Memorial Park.

An indictment released Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York accused Rosenwasser and a co-defendant, Mout’z “Marty” Soudani, of bribery.

The indictment begins:

”Rosenwasser, while serving as chief counsel to the district attorney and executive assistant district attorney of Orange County, accepted approximately $63,000 in bribe payments from Mout’z Soudani. In exchange, Rosenwasser, using his authority of the District Attorney’s Office, assisted and was influenced by Soudani to, among things: investigate and prosecute two individuals, lead and prioritize the matter; improperly provide confidential information about the matter to Soudani; seized money from the individuals that would be paid to Soudani as restitution; and repeatedly decline to recuse himself from the matter despite Rosenwasser’s conflict of interest.

”To conceal his conduct,” the indictment continued, “Rosenwasser lied about his relationship with Soudani to senior leadership of the District Attorney’s Office, made false statements and financial disclosure forms, and lied to federal agents.”

The two individuals Rosenwasser prosecuted are Soudani’s sister and nephew. The case against them began in October 2022.

According to the indictment, Soundani claimed his relatives may have stolen an investment account worth $1.8 million and more than half a million dollars in case. (Some of the funds may have been in crypto currency because at one point the indictment indicated that Rosenwasser told Soudani a “crypto” expert would be meeting with investigators.)

That same month, Soudani told a person described in the indictment as “a friend” that he had previously lent Rosenwasser $40,000, which he said the attorney had not repaid. Rosenwasser, however, “would take care of” Soudani’s situation involving his family members.

In November, Soudani met with someone identified in the indictment as a “witness.” “The DA is on my side,” the indictment quotes Soudani as saying, “He’s my friend ... so that’s at least in good hands.”

Then on Nov. 10, Soudani paid Rosenwasser $15,000 by check, the indictment reads.

On Dec. 23, Soudani texted Rosenwasser. “I give you my word,” the indictment quotes Soudani as writing, “at the end of the year you will be extremely more than happy.”

The indictment indicates the two men texted 200 times between November and December 2022. There also were 26 phone calls.

The money exchanges continued, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams wrote in the indictment. In May 2023, Soudani purchased ten $1,000 money orders from post offices in Montgomery and Plattekill.

Meanwhile, in November 2023, Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that the International Association of Arson Investigators, New York State Chapter, had awarded Rosenwasser with Arson Prosecutor of the Year for the investigation and conviction after jury trial of Zef Gjurashaj for an arson for profit in the Town of Newburgh.

On Jan. 5, 2024, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office disbursed $478,286.12 in restitution from the criminal case to Soudani.

Three days later, according to the indictment, “Soudani paid Rosenwasser approximately $15,000.

“As of May 2024, Soudani paid Rosenwasser $63,000 by check, money order and cash.”

In an interview with law enforcement officials in June 2024, Soudani “admits ... that Rosenwasser directed him to pay him by money order and cash rather than check, so that the money could not be easily traced back to Soudani.”

That same month, Rosenwasser voluntarily met with FBI agents. Three days later he abruptly resigned from the District Attorney’s Office.

Soudani’s sister and her son were charged with larceny in 2023, although the charges against the sister would be dismissed. The nephew was sentenced to a sentence of one to seven years in prison.

According to reports in the Albany Times Union and the New York Daily News, the lawyer for the nephew is preparing to file a motion to dismiss his client’s criminal case.

“It’s truly heartbreaking that it ended this way,” District Attorney David Hoovler said in a statement published in the New York Daily News. “My heartfelt condolences go out to his family.”