Former Orange County, New York prosecutor, Stewart Rosenwasser dies in apparent suicide after his home was raided by F.B.I agents. The storming of Stewart Rosenwassers home occured because of bribes up to $63,000. Rossenwaser also held the position of chief counsel to Orange County District Attorney’s office as well as executive assistant district attorney ( NBC News). Ramapo French teacher, Dr. Barreau, expresses his feelings towards the case, “You need to be honest in your life. When people rely on you, you need to have integrity. The consequences, if violated, will be very grave.”
On Monday, September 23, the court indicted Rosenwasser on six charges (NBC New York).
On the morning of Tuesday, September 24, 2024, when federal agents came to arrest Rosenwasser in his home in upstate New York, he opened fire against federal agents after they allegedly shot at him. The former judge then proceeded to lock himself in a room and reportedly, took his own life. (NBC News).
Charges against Rosenwasser, as stated in the indictment included making false statements, extortion under color of official right, bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and honest services wire fraud (NBC New York). The $63,000 bribes came from Rosenwassers millionare co-defendant and restaurant owner, Mout’z Soudani. Checks starting at the sum of $15,000 were handed to Rosenwasser in November of 2022. These payments continued through to the following months. Soudani paid the judge in hopes of racking up an embezzlement case against family members he believed to be stealing from him (New York Post).
The date in which these bribes started truly shocked Ramapo Senior, Harmony Centrello. She expressed,”I was surprised that these bribes were going on for almost 2 years until it was brought to the attention of government officials.” The unfortunate outcome of this case has left many speechless and saddened.
