MANHATTAN: DRUG CENTER'S EX-CHIEF IS INDICTED

The former head of Odyssey House, the drug treatment center, was indicted
yesterday on conspiracy and tax charges in connection with an embezzlement
scheme against his organization, federal officials announced. The man,
Benjamin Walker Jr., the former president of Odyssey House, was charged
with conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, conspiring to
commit mail fraud, and subscribing false income tax returns, the Justice
Department said. His indictment also claims he shared much of the $2.3
million that Odyssey's former director of operations, Aaron Lugo, admitted
embezzling from the center in 1999 when he pleaded guilty to bid rigging,
fraud and tax changes.