Pubdate: Thu, 29 Apr 2004 Source: Athens News, The (OH) Copyright: 2004, Athens News Contact: http://www.athensnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1603 OU ADMINISTRATOR GIVEN REHAB IN DRUG CASE An Ohio University administrator who was charged last fall with cocaine possession has been allowed to take treatment in lieu of conviction. Richard Harrison, 43, is OU's assistant dean for student affairs development. He was arrested uptown by Athens Police for public intoxication last September, a day after his birthday. When Harrison was taken to the jail in Nelsonville, officers found less than a gram of cocaine in a bag in his shoe. The cocaine possession charge is a fifth-degree felony, the lowest level of felony. In Athens County Common Pleas Court Tuesday, Harrison, accompanied by his attorney K. Robert Toy, agreed to plead guilty to the charge, and Toy requested intervention in lieu of conviction. "He made one stupid mistake," Toy said of his client, noting that Harrison has no prior felony convictions. Assistant county prosecutor Michael Huff agreed to the intervention. Ward, possibly aware of a recent newspaper column that suggested Harrison is getting kid-glove treatment because of his position with OU, asked Huff to discuss how his sentence compares to that of similar defendants. Huff said the prosecutor's office has typically agreed to intervention in lieu of conviction for defendants with records and offenses like Harrison's. "That's been very common for years in our office," he said. Harrison will undergo a drug rehabilitation program, and will be on probation for three years. If he successfully completes the program, he will have no criminal record. The maximum sentence for the offense committed by Harrison is one year in prison and a $500 fine. Harrison has been with OU for more than 15 years. He won an outstanding administrator award in 1989. His job consists largely of raising private funds to support OU student programs. OU officials this week reportedly will make some decision regarding Harrison's future with the university. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake