Two Courts Halt Deportation of Pennsylvania Man Exonerated After 40 Years

Tue Nov 04 2025 08:25:29 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Subramanyam Vedam, released from prison after his murder conviction was overturned, faces potential deportation as immigration officials target him over a past drug plea.

Two separate courts have intervened in the case of Subramanyam Vedam, a 64-year-old Pennsylvania man who spent four decades in prison for a murder he didn't commit. After his conviction was overturned, he was immediately taken into immigration custody, prompting legal challenges to prevent his deportation to India, where he originally immigrated at a young age. Vedam's family is relieved at the court's decision to pause deportation efforts pending a review.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Two separate courts have ordered immigration officials not to deport a Pennsylvania man who spent four decades in prison before his murder conviction was overturned.

Subramanyam Vedam, 64, is currently detained at a short-term holding center in Alexandria, Louisiana, that’s equipped with an airstrip for deportations. Vedam, known as Subu, was transferred there from central Pennsylvania last week, relatives said.

An immigration judge stayed his deportation on Thursday until the Bureau of Immigration Appeals decides whether to review his case. That could take several months. Vedam’s lawyers also obtained a stay the same day from a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania; however, that case may be on hold due to the ruling from the immigration court.

Vedam legally immigrated to the U.S. from India as an infant and grew up in State College, where his father taught at Penn State. He was serving a life sentence for the 1980 death of a friend before his conviction was overturned this year.

He was released from state prison on October 3, only to be taken directly into immigration custody.

The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking to deport Vedam based on his no contest plea to charges of LSD delivery when he was about 20 years old. His lawyers argue that the four decades he wrongfully spent in prison, where he earned degrees and tutored fellow inmates, should outweigh the drug conviction.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson stated that the reversal of Vedam's murder conviction does not eliminate his drug conviction. Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, stated via email, Having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE’s enforcement of the federal immigration law.

Vedam’s sister expressed relief that judges have acknowledged the unwarranted nature of Subu’s deportation while his immigration case is still pending. She remains hopeful that the Board of Immigration Appeals will recognize that deporting her brother would be another injustice, considering he survived 43 years in maximum-security prison for a crime he did not commit and has lived in the U.S. since he was nine months old.