Judge Blocks Deportation Of Subramanyam Vedam

Photo: freesubu.org

India-West News Desk

PHILADELPHIA, PA – A federal immigration judge has blocked the deportation of Subramanyam Vedam, a 64-year-old man who spent over four decades in prison for a murder conviction that was recently overturned. Judge Adam Panopoulos ruled on April 2 that Vedam, who was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody last year, proved he is rehabilitated and poses no threat to public safety.

The judge noted that Vedam “has grown as a person” and “began to dedicate himself to enriching other people’s lives and ultimately his own through academic study and enrichment,” highlighting his work to improve literacy among fellow inmates.

The legal battle centers on a 1980 case involving the death of Thomas Kinser in State College. Vedam, known as Subu, was brought to the U.S. from Mumbai as a nine-month-old infant in 1962 and was nearly a naturalized citizen at the time of his 1982 arrest. Last year, a Centre County judge overturned his first-degree murder conviction after discovering that prosecutors had failed to disclose FBI ballistics evidence during his original trials. District Attorney Bernie Cantorna declined to pursue a third trial, calling it “a compelling circumstantial case” but noting that “44 years is a sufficient sentence for a murder committed by someone who was nineteen years old.”

Despite the murder charge being dropped, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sought to deport Vedam based on past drug distribution and theft offenses. In a statement to The Associated Press, the department said that “having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE’s enforcement of the federal immigration law.”

During a remote hearing from the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, DHS lawyer Tammy Dusharm argued that Vedam’s history made him ineligible to remain in the country, stating, “I find it fairly incredible that it would appear that every single time he sold drugs, he did so to an undercover officer.”

Vedam, who has consistently maintained his innocence regarding the Kinser shooting, told the court, “I was young and stupid and did a lot of dumb things back then,” but insisted he had changed.

Judge Panopoulos agreed that Vedam had maintained close ties with family members who have never known him as a free man. Ava Benach, Vedam’s attorney, indicated she will now seek his release on bond so he can relocate and begin a doctoral program in applied anthropology at Oregon State University. The government has 30 days to appeal the ruling.