Subramanyam ‘Subu’ Vedam, a 64-year-old Indian-origin man, has spent most of his life behind bars for a crime he did not commit. Now, after being declared innocent and released from prison, he faces another battle, deportation to a country he left as a child.
Vedam was only 20 when he was convicted of murdering his friend while studying at State College, Pennsylvania. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole and spent 43 years in prison before being exonerated.
On October 3, Vedam walked out of Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania, finally a free man. The court found that prosecutors had hidden key evidence that could have proven his innocence decades ago, The Miami Herald reported.
But his freedom was short-lived. Moments after his release, Vedam was taken into custody by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). His family, waiting to welcome him home, learned that he had instead been moved to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center.
“To our disappointment, Subu was transferred to ICE custody,” his family said in a statement posted on the ‘Free Subu’ website. “Since the wrongful conviction has been vacated and all charges dismissed, we have asked the immigration court to reopen his case and recognise his exoneration.”
ICE officials, however, have cited a decades-old deportation order from the 1980s. The order was based on both his wrongful murder conviction and a drug-related case from his teenage years. When Vedam was 19, he pleaded guilty to intent to distribute LSD, a charge his family calls a “youthful mistake.”
The deportation was never carried out because he was serving a life sentence at the time.
In a statement to The Miami Herald, ICE described Vedam as a “career criminal” and said he remains in custody as officials arrange for his removal. “Individuals with standing removal orders are priorities for enforcement,” the agency said.
Shivam Verma is a journalist with over three years of experience in digital newsrooms. He currently works at NewsX, having previously worked for Firstpost and DNA India. A postgraduate diploma holder in Integrated Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, Shivam focuses on international affairs, diplomacy, defence, and politics. Beyond the newsroom, he is passionate about football—both playing and watching—and enjoys travelling to explore new places and cuisines.
