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By P. DOUGLAS FILAROSKI; Times Leader Staff Writer
Saturday, March 14, 1998     Page: 3A

PLAINS TWP.- State prison officials are investigating whether two prison
guards were involved in an attack that left a man unconscious outside a
nightclub last month.
   
Alan Lefebvre, a spokesman at State Correctional Institution at Graterford,
said security officers are reviewing reports involving prison guards Dave
Kopinski and Carmen Insalaco.
    At least three men kicked and beat Robert Ziomek of Newport Township during
a Feb. 7 assault at the Woodlands Inn & Resort that sent Ziomek to the
hospital with head and face injuries.
   
The prison’s review comes after police questioned Kopinski and Insalaco
about the assault, according to a source who spoke on the condition of
anonymity. They also hope to talk to Cleveland Cavaliers player Bob Sura, a
high school basketball teammate of Kopinski’s at GAR High School in
Wilkes-Barre.
   
On Friday, the alleged victim’s mother, Christine Ziomek, said local
attorney John Moses is representing her son, who she said had to drop out of
college because of injuries from the attack.
   
Moses, who recently defended Dr. Stephen Scher in a murder case that
received national publicity, declined comment Friday on his role in the case.
   
Sura, who before the season signed with the Cavaliers a contract worth at
least $24 million, has denied involvement in the assault, which occurred
during the NBA’s All-Star break.
   
Witnesses described a silver Chevrolet Blazer with out-of-state plates
leaving the Woodlands about the time of the assault.
   
A vehicle matching the description was stopped by police, and an officer
identified Sura as the driver, a source said.
   
Prison officials are investigating whether Kopinski and Insalaco violated
the state correction department’s code of ethics by failing to notify the
prison that police had questioned them.
   
A clause in the code reads: “Employees will promptly report to their
supervisor any information which comes to their attention and indicates
violation of the law, rules, and/or regulations of the Department of
Corrections by either an employee or inmate.”
   
On Feb. 27, Lefebvre said neither Kopinski nor Insalaco had reported
anything to their employer, and no formal review w