Indian-Origin Man Wrongfully Jailed For Decades Faces Deportation Despite Having Arrived In US At 9 Months Old; Here's What Happened

What was supposed to be a long-awaited day of freedom became another nightmare for Subramanyam Vedam, a 64-year-old Indian-origin Pennsylvania resident. Released from jail after 43 years with regard to the murder he always said he did not commit, on October 3, Vedam was taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the moment he stepped out of a state prison. Despite being acquitted, he faces the possibility of deportation to a country he has no memory of.

Vedam and his sister Saraswathi grew up in State College, home to Penn State University, where their father was a respected physics professor and their mother a university librarian. Their upbringing reflected the aspirations of many Indian diaspora families, until a 1980 murder upended their lives.

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Freedom Lasted One Day

Vedam was twice convicted of killing his 19-year-old friend and former roommate, Thomas Kinser, despite the lack of witnesses, motive, or conclusive evidence. In August 2025, a judge vacated the conviction after defence lawyers discovered previously undisclosed ballistic reports, exposing severe flaws in the prosecution’s case. The ruling cleared Vedam’s name and ended decades of wrongful imprisonment. But his freedom was short-lived.

As his sister arrived to take him home on October 3, ICE officers invoked a dormant 1999 deportation order linked to a 1980s drug conviction for LSD possession and intended distribution, an offence Vedam committed as a teenager. Because immigration waivers were not pursued at the time, his overturned murder conviction does not erase the deportation trigger.

“He’s suffered a profound injustice,” immigration attorney Ava Benach said. “Those 43 years aren’t a blank slate. He lived a remarkable experience in prison.”

Behind bars, Vedam earned multiple degrees, tutored hundreds of inmates, and maintained a nearly spotless disciplinary record. His only infraction in four decades involved smuggling rice from outside, a sign, his attorneys argue, of rehabilitation and character growth.

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Currently held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Centre, Vedam shares cramped quarters with around 60 detainees. Ironically, he can now speak to his family more freely than he could during decades in state prison.