PA’s longest-serving exoneree Subu Vedam faces deportation after prison release
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- ICE detains, moves to deport Subu Vedam after his murder conviction overturned.
- Defense says deportation would compound injustice after decades of wrongful incarceration.
- Family and lawyers ask judge to reopen removal case to reflect his exoneration.
The federal agency responsible for immigration enforcement said Monday it is working to deport a State College man whose first-degree murder conviction was overturned after more than four decades in prison.
Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, 64, was described by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a career criminal and convicted drug trafficker.
A search of decades-old Centre County court records shows Vedam pleaded no contest in the 1980s to drug charges after being accused of selling LSD in State College.
An ICE spokesperson said the native of India is subject to a final order of removal issued by a federal immigration judge. The agency said those with standing removal orders are priorities for deportation.
“ICE routinely coordinates with federal, state, and local partners to take custody of noncitizens who have completed criminal sentences and remain subject to removal from the United States,” the spokesperson said in an email to the Centre Daily Times. “Mr. Vedam will be held in ICE custody while the agency arranges for his removal in accordance with all applicable laws and due-process requirements.”
Vedam was taken into ICE custody Friday afternoon immediately after his release from Huntingdon state prison. He is detained at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, a facility just outside of Philipsburg that has been dogged by allegations of abuse.
Lead defense lawyer Gopal Balachandran previously told the CDT that Vedam lived in the U.S. since he entered the country as a 9-month-old in 1962. He was a legal permanent resident when he was arrested, Balachandran said.
In a statement Monday, Vedam’s immigration attorney Ava Benach pushed back on ICE’s description of him as a career criminal and drug trafficker. She said the charges were for small amounts of LSD and occurred when he was a teenager.
A docket sheet lists a misdemeanor drug charge with an offense date of December 2003 — when Vedam was incarcerated — but corresponding court documents made it appear as though the charge stemmed from the early 1980s.
“Without the wrongful murder conviction, Subu would likely have been successful in defending himself in deportation proceedings decades ago, maintaining his status as a permanent resident,” Benach said. “We believe deportation from the United States now to send him to a country where he has few connections, would represent another terrible wrong done to a man who has already endured a record-setting injustice.”
Saraswathi Vedam, Subu’s sister, said Friday that the family was “disappointed” he was taken into ICE custody. They have since asked a judge to reopen his immigration case to “account for the fact that Subu has been exonerated,” she said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear how soon Vedam could be deported. Harrisburg-area attorney Andrew Quietmeyer, who is not connected with the case, said Friday that Vedam could be detained for weeks if he fights for his release.
“And if that is the case,” Quietmeyer said. “There are few options he can turn to for a quick release.”
Vedam was released from prison after Centre County prosecutors dropped a first-degree murder charge against him Thursday. He was charged in the fatal 1980 shooting of Thomas Kinser. Both were 19 years old at the time.
His conviction on circumstantial evidence was overturned in August by Centre County President Judge Jonathan Grine, who found previous county prosecutors violated his due process rights and deprived him of a fair trial in 1988.
He has always maintained his innocence and is the longest-serving exoneree in Pennsylvania history.
Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna could have chosen to retry Vedam, but decided it would have been too difficult with key witnesses and evidence no longer available. He also said Vedam’s time in prison — by all accounts, spotless — factored into his decision.
This story was originally published October 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM.