"Exonerated after 43 years, now deportation over 1983 drug plea"

Subramanyam "Subu" Vedam, who spent 43 years incarcerated in Pennsylvania for a murder conviction that was ultimately overturned, now faces the threat of deportation after a 1999 removal order resurfaced following his release in August 2025. Vedam, 64, who came to the United States from India as a baby, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on October 3, 2025, just days after a judge threw out his murder conviction based on new ballistics evidence,

. His situation has become a focal point in the Trump administration’s intensified immigration enforcement efforts, with supporters contending that his decades-long wrongful imprisonment should outweigh a previous drug offense, .

Vedam’s legal challenges began in 1980 when he was accused of killing his friend Thomas Kinser, a fellow student at Penn State. Despite the absence of witnesses or a clear motive, Vedam was convicted twice, the last time in 1988, NBC News stated. His defense team later uncovered an FBI document showing the fatal bullet did not match the .25-caliber firearm Vedam had bought, a fact prosecutors withheld, ABC News noted. After a review in 2023, Centre County Judge David Stockinger overturned the conviction, and prosecutors opted not to pursue a new trial, NBC News reported.

Yet, Vedam’s reprieve was brief. Federal immigration officials pointed to a 1999 deportation order linked to a drug conviction—he had pleaded no contest to selling LSD in 1983—as grounds for his detention, NBC News said. Vedam’s attorney, Ava Benach, argues that the extraordinary injustice he endured should make him eligible for relief under immigration law. “Spending forty-three years wrongfully imprisoned more than compensates for a drug offense committed at age 20,” she told ABC News.

The Department of Homeland Security, however, maintains that Vedam did not act quickly enough to protect his immigration status. Assistant chief counsel Katherine Frisch wrote in a brief that “he has not provided any evidence or arguments demonstrating diligence in pursuing his immigration rights,” NBC News reported. ICE has resisted reopening his case, maintaining that “the deadline passed years ago,” according to ABC News.

Supporters of Vedam emphasize the positive changes he made while incarcerated. He obtained several academic degrees, tutored other prisoners, and maintained an exemplary record except for a minor incident involving rice, NBC News reported. His sister, Saraswathi Vedam, a midwifery professor in Vancouver, described him as “patient” in the face of adversity. “He understands better than anyone that sometimes life is illogical. You just have to persist and trust that truth, justice, compassion, and kindness will ultimately prevail,” she told ABC News.

This case highlights ongoing debates over U.S. immigration policy, especially under the Trump administration’s focus on deportation. While Vedam’s legal team seeks a hearing before the Board of Immigration Appeals, his future remains uncertain. For now, he is being held at an ICE facility in central Pennsylvania, awaiting a decision that will shape what comes next, NBC News reported.