Court Orders Stay on Deportation of Pennsylvania Man Wrongfully Convicted

Tue Nov 04 2025 06:33:27 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Subramanyam Vedam, a 64-year-old man who spent 43 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, has received a temporary reprieve from deportation following his exoneration.

After spending four decades behind bars, Subramanyam Vedam's murder conviction was overturned, but he now faces deportation due to a prior drug conviction. Two courts have intervened, leading to a temporary suspension of his deportation until his immigration case is reviewed.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Subramanyam Vedam, a Pennsylvania man who spent over four decades imprisoned before his murder conviction was overturned, has received a temporary stay from courts regarding his deportation.

Vedam, 64, is currently held in a short-term immigration detention center in Alexandria, Louisiana, a facility known for its deportation airstrip. He was transferred there from central Pennsylvania last week, according to family members.

An immigration judge granted a stay of Vedam’s deportation this Thursday pending a review by the Bureau of Immigration Appeals. Meanwhile, his attorneys have also obtained a stay from a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, though they caution that the immigration court ruling may complicate their efforts.

Originally arriving in the U.S. from India as an infant, Vedam grew up in State College, where his father was a professor at Penn State University. He had been serving a life sentence following a conviction for his friend’s death in 1980 until being exonerated earlier this month.

Following his release on October 3, Vedam was immediately taken into immigration custody, where officials seek to deport him based on a no contest plea to LSD delivery charges from when he was around 20 years old. His defense lawyers argue that the wrongful incarceration of nearly 43 years should outweigh this previous conviction.

A Department of Homeland Security representative commented that the reversal of Vedam’s murder conviction does not eliminate the illegality of the drug charges justifying his deportation efforts.

Vedam's sister expressed relief that the courts recognized the unwarranted nature of his deportation during the ongoing legal process. She stated, “We’re hopeful that the Board of Immigration Appeals will agree that deporting Subu would represent another injustice against a man who has endured so much.”