Man Who Served 43 Years on Overturned Conviction Can Stay in US

A man in Pennsylvania who spent more than 40 years in prison for a killing he maintains he did not commit has received a favorable ruling in immigration court that could allow him to remain in the United States.

On Thursday, an immigration judge decided that 64-year-old Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam can stay in the country where he has lived since he was brought from India as a baby. Vedam’s parents moved him to the United States when he was an infant, and he has lived there ever since.

Vedam’s original murder conviction from 1983 was overturned in August after attorneys uncovered evidence that prosecutors had failed to disclose important ballistic information during the trial. His legal team argued that the case represented a serious miscarriage of justice. After the conviction was vacated, prosecutors dropped the charges.

However, the day after those charges were dismissed, federal immigration authorities took Vedam into custody. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sought to deport him based on an old drug case from the same year as the murder conviction.

In 1983, Vedam entered a no-contest plea to four charges involving possession of LSD with intent to distribute. A deportation order tied to that conviction was issued in 1999. Even after the murder conviction was thrown out, the Department of Homeland Security continued pursuing his removal from the country. Meanwhile, the Board of Immigration Appeals described Vedam’s situation as “exceptional” and agreed to reopen his case.

Vedam’s attorney, Ava Benach, argued that the decades he spent wrongfully imprisoned far outweighed the drug offense he committed when he was 20 years old. During his time in prison, Vedam earned multiple academic degrees and helped tutor other inmates. According to records, his only disciplinary issue over more than four decades involved having rice that had been brought in from outside.

Immigration Judge Adam Panopoulos granted Vedam relief after reviewing his conduct and accomplishments while incarcerated. The judge noted Vedam’s rehabilitation, which included mentoring family members he had only been able to communicate with while behind bars and organizing a literacy program for fellow prisoners.

At a hearing the day before the ruling, Vedam acknowledged mistakes he made in his youth, including using drugs, but emphasized that he had never committed a violent act.

If he is released, Vedam plans to live with relatives in Sacramento and continue pursuing education. The Department of Homeland Security has until May 4 to challenge the immigration judge’s decision. A DHS spokesperson previously said that the reversal of a single conviction does not prevent immigration authorities from enforcing federal immigration law.