STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, a 64-year-old State College man who spent 43 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned, headed into Thursday awaiting a federal immigration ruling after testifying Wednesday by video to an immigration court in Elizabeth, New Jersey, over whether he can avoid deportation under a decades-old order tied to separate drug convictions, April 2, 2026. The case turns on whether a judge grants a waiver that would let Vedam remain in the country he entered as an infant, or leaves him facing removal to India despite the collapse of the murder case that consumed most of his adult life.
According to StateCollege.com’s report from Wednesday’s hearing, Vedam testified for more than two hours by video from the Moshannon Valley ICE Processing Center near Philipsburg and said he never viewed himself as belonging anywhere other than State College and the United States. He told the court, “I believe forty three years is enough … I am part of this society.” The judge said he would issue a decision Thursday morning.
Why the Subu Vedam ruling matters
The legal stakes reach far beyond one hearing. The government is seeking to deport Vedam to India, where he was born during a brief family stay, even though he returned to the United States at 9 months old and was close to becoming a citizen when he was arrested in 1982. Under the immigration rules discussed in court, lawful permanent residents convicted before the 1997 overhaul of federal immigration law can still seek discretionary relief in certain cases.
Background compiled in the National Registry of Exonerations’ case summary shows Vedam was convicted twice in the killing of Thomas Kinser and spent decades challenging the case. After a Centre County judge vacated the conviction in August 2025, Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said in an Oct. 2 media release that a retrial was no longer realistic because witnesses had died, memories had faded and evidence had been lost.
How the Subu Vedam case reached this point
The current hearing is only the latest turn in a case that has unfolded in public view for months. In October, The Associated Press reported that Vedam went from prison release straight into immigration custody. Days later, AP reported that two courts had temporarily blocked his deportation. In February, WPSU reported that an immigration judge had vacated the old deportation order and restored Vedam’s permanent residency while the case was reopened, but another WPSU report said a different judge later denied him bond, leaving him detained as the immigration fight continued.
What comes next for Subu Vedam
At Wednesday’s hearing, federal lawyers pressed Vedam about his late-teen record, including LSD sales in 1981 and 1982, while Vedam and his attorney argued those acts should be weighed against the life he built during decades of incarceration. Vedam said the offenses reflected a brief period when he was “young and stupid,” not the person he became after more than four decades behind bars.
A favorable ruling could let Vedam begin rebuilding life with relatives in Sacramento, California, where he said he plans to live if released, while also exploring further academic work. A ruling against him would keep alive the prospect of removal to a country he left as a baby, extending a legal saga that has already stretched from a wrongful conviction to one of the most closely watched immigration cases in central Pennsylvania.
