Surrender of Most Wanted Probation Offender
Leaves Only One at Large

Oscar Colon, Jr.

Rubenson Cherilus

         One of the two offenders remaining at large who were featured on Massachusetts Probation Service's first statewide Most Wanted list has turned himself in thanks to intervention by a Chief Probation Officer. Now in jail, Oscar Colon, Jr. awaits a September 30th final surrender hearing.

         Prior to his surrender, Colon and Rubenson Cherilus, 27, were the only two probationers still at large of the nine most wanted offenders featured on the list. Cherilus, whose offenses include firearms possession and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, is being sought by the Boston Municipal Court in South Boston and the Somerville District Court. Four of the most wanted probation violators were apprehended within a week of the list's publication last spring. With assistance from the Massachusetts State Police and the U.S. Marshals Service, Probation has nabbed offenders in Maine, Florida, and Louisiana.

         Colon, 31, surrendered after persistent efforts by Chief Anthony Gully who oversees probation for the Boston Municipal Court in Roxbury. Gully had been actively searching for Colon, working closely with Boston Police and Suffolk Superior Probation Officer Timothy McDonough. Colon was wanted by Suffolk Superior Court Probation for offenses including home invasion, armed robbery and witness intimidation. Through prior probation supervision, Gully had known Colon's father and tracked him down. His father had seen the media coverage of the most wanted probationers and been contacted by associates who thought he was the Oscar Colon being sought. Gully asked him to locate his son and urge him to turn himself in. Gully then received a series of phone calls from the younger Colon and after weeks of coaxing persuaded him to surrender.

         "I told him that I knew he was tired of hiding and that he should come in and face his responsibility," Gully recalled. Finally, Colon boarded a bus for Boston from western Massachusetts and visited his family before turning himself in.

         Chief Probation Officer Joseph Jackson who oversees Probation's Most Wanted initiative said, "Thanks to the great assistance of local police in Massachusetts and across the country, the Massachusetts State Police, and the U.S. Marshals Service, we have been able to bring high-risk offenders to justice. This effort has been hugely successful."

         The Massachusetts Probation Service will release a new Most Wanted list next month. Information on the whereabouts of Rubenson Cherilus, the one remaining offender from the current list, can be called into the confidential tip line at 617-959-4747.