Public sub GetLevel5Manager(ByVal strCriteria As String) 
lblLevel5Manager.Text = Mid(strCriteria, 10, 8)
exit sub 
(the rest of the code...)
End sub

    Public Function GetLevel5Manager(ByRef strCriteria As String) As DataTable
        Try
            Dim strConn As String = HttpContext.Current.Session("ConnStr")
            Dim conn As New SqlConnection(strConn)
            Dim da As New SqlDataAdapter
            Dim ds As DataSet = New DataSet
            Dim cmd As SqlCommand
            Dim strCrit As String = Mid(strCriteria, 11, 7)

            conn.Open()
            cmd = conn.CreateCommand()
            With cmd
                .CommandText = "SELECT U.FullName FROM DropDownData D, Users U WHERE D.DropDownCategory = 'Level5' AND D.DisplayValue =' & strCrit & 'and D.Misc1 = U.Associate_ID"
                .CommandType = CommandType.Text
            End With

            da = New SqlDataAdapter(cmd)
            da.Fill(ds)

            lblLevel5Manager.Text = Convert.ToString(ds)

            conn.Close()

        Catch ex As Exception
            Dim sTemp As String
            sTemp = ex.Message
            lblLevel5Manager.Text = ex.Message

        End Try
    End Function