
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 29, 1994                   TAG: 9411010038
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: FORT LAUDERDALE SUN-SENTINEL
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

AGENCY FIRES WACO RAID LEADERS

Two federal agents who led the 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian headquarters in Texas were fired Friday by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which accused them of poor judgment and lying to investigators, a spokeswoman for the agents said.

Charles Sarabyn and Phillip Chojnacki denied the accusations and said they would appeal.

``This is the beginning of the truth,'' Sarabyn said in a statement released by his sister, B.J. Bond, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

ATF spokesman Tom Hill said the bureau would not comment.

Four agents were killed and two wounded Feb. 28, 1993, when about 80 ATF agents stormed a compound near Waco where cult leader David Koresh was suspected to have a large cache of illegal firearms.

An ensuing 51-day standoff culminated in the death of Koresh and at least 78 of his followers in an inferno that engulfed the compound.

In documents, ATF officials said Sarabyn and Chojnacki knew beforehand that Koresh had been tipped off to the imminent raid.

But Sarabyn's attorney, Steve Gardner, said, ``The real problem is that the Treasury Department, nearly two years later, is getting around to second-guessing folks.''

by CNB