Will Subu Vedam be deported? Judge poised to decide Thursday
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Judge to announce decision Thursday morning on whether Subu Vedam stays in U.S.
- Vedam seeks release after 43 years in prison, vacated conviction.
- ICE called him a 'career criminal'; family and attorneys urged his release.
A State College man who spent more than four decades in prison before his murder conviction was overturned — only to immediately face deportation — will have to wait a bit longer before learning whether he can stay in the U.S.
Tasked with deciding the fate of Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, immigration Judge Adam Panopoulos said he will announce his decision Thursday morning. He listened Wednesday to more than three hours of testimony, much of it from Vedam.
It was his first time testifying since the 1980s. The hearing was conducted remotely via Webex from a New Jersey courtroom.
“I believe 43 years is enough,” Vedam, 64, testified when asked why he felt like he should be released. “I’ve been in jail for a long time, unjustly. I’m part of this society. I’ve never really thought of myself being anywhere else but from State College and from the U.S.”
If successful, Vedam could be released Thursday from the Moshannon Valley Processing Center just outside Philipsburg. It would be the first time he walked free since 1982, when Ronald Reagan was president and before the internet as we know it existed.
“What defines him is not a year-and-a-half of bad behavior, of dumb choices that he made when he was a 19- and 20-year-old man,” his immigration attorney Ava Benach said. “What is before you is someone who, for 44 years, has chosen to try to improve himself, improve those around him.”
Vedam said he would live with one of his nieces in Sacramento, California. In addition to helping with her 18-month-old child, Vedam said he was offered a teaching assistant position at Oregon State University.
Vedam was convicted in February 1983 of first-degree murder for the killing of his friend Thomas Kinser, 19, near State College. He has always maintained his innocence and on Wednesday said he “most certainly did not” kill Kinser.
But there were other convictions too, which Department of Homeland Security attorney Tammy Dusharm said amounted to a yearslong “crime spree.” She said there were convictions for drugs, theft and DUI.
On the drug charges, Vedam pleaded no contest to selling LSD after he was already convicted of first-degree murder — a crime that comes with a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Benach previously cast the drug dealing as “small town work” rather than large-scale drug trafficking. She has also pointed to his nearly spotless and productive prison record.
“I was young and stupid,” Vedam testified when asked why he used drugs. “I know it was common usage back then. ... I certainly would not make those choices today.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has described Vedam as a “career criminal” even though he has spent nearly his entire adult life in prison. The agency has sought to deport him to India, his native country but one with which he has little to no connection.
In pushing for him to be deported, Dusharm said Vedam minimized his behavior and tried to “rewrite history.”
“Literally one day before he was arrested he was delivering what he admitted was 100 doses of LSD to an individual who then sold it to an undercover police officer,” Dusharm said.
Saraswathi Vedam, Subu’s older sister, told the judge it would be devastating for their family if he were deported. It was not clear if the family would appeal if Panopoulos rules against them.
It took nearly a half-century to get to Wednesday’s hearing.
Vedam’s best chance to shed his murder conviction came in 2022 when his post-conviction attorneys uncovered ballistics evidence that Centre County prosecutors had not disclosed during either of his two trials.
Centre County President Judge Jonathan Grine vacated the conviction in August, finding that prosecutors violated Vedam’s due process rights and deprived him of a fair trial.
With key evidence and witnesses unavailable, Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna abandoned the case two months later. Vedam was released the following day from Huntingdon state prison, but was immediately taken into ICE custody.
President Donald Trump’s administration had pursued a quick deportation, but two separate courts intervened. The Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals paused ICE’s efforts in February based on what it called exceptional circumstances.
Vedam came to the U.S. legally as an infant and was raised in State College, where his late father taught at Penn State and his mother volunteered. His family was among the first from India to make their home in Happy Valley and was a pillar of the community, especially among immigrants.
This story was originally published April 1, 2026 at 8:07 PM.