By Steve Neavling
A retired upstate New York judge and former prosecutor allegedly shot himself to death Tuesday morning during a shootout with FBI agents attempting to arrest him on bribery and corruption charges, according to law enforcement sources.
Stewart Rosenwasser, who had been under investigation in a federal bribery case, reportedly opened fire on agents as they approached his Orange County home. Shortly afterward, he died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, sources told The New York Post.
The FBI is investigating the incident as part of its standard procedure in agent-involved shootings.
“As this is an ongoing matter, we have no further details to provide,” the FBI said in a statement.
Rosenwasser’s death occurred just a day after a federal grand jury indicted him for allegedly accepting $63,000 in bribes to manipulate a legal case on behalf of a longtime associate. The scheme involved rigging charges against the associate’s family members in a multimillion-dollar embezzlement dispute.
The indictment also implicates businessman Mout’z Soudani, with whom Rosenwasser allegedly conspired to conceal their illicit actions. Rosenwasser had previously resigned from the district attorney’s office as the investigation into his conduct intensified.
Rosenwasser’s son, Jason, questioned reports of his father’s suicide, noting conflicting accounts in local news.
“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,” Jason said in an email to The Post.
