State College Man Freed After 40 Years Wrongfully Imprisoned, Now Faces Deportation

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, a longtime State College resident, was released last week after spending more than 40 years in a maximum-security prison in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Time he should never have served. 

Vedam, now in his 60s, was freed after a judge vacated his 1983 murder conviction when newly uncovered evidence revealed that key FBI reports had been withheld and that the bullet evidence used at trial did not match the prosecution’s theory.

In 1983, Vedam was convicted for the murder of his roommate, Thomas Kinser, in a case built largely on circumstantial evidence. Over four decades later, newly disclosed records showed that crucial details had been suppressed during the original investigation. The judge granted Vedam a new trial, but with many witnesses now deceased and evidence lost, prosecutors decided to dismiss the charges altogether.

But just as he was about to experience freedom for the first time in four decades, Vedam was immediately detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

Born in India, he now faces deportation despite having lived nearly his entire life in the United States. Vedam’s family immigrated to Pennsylvania when he was a baby and he grew up in State College, where he attended school and built his life before his wrongful conviction.

During his incarceration, Vedam dedicated himself to education and service. He earned three college degrees and completed 55 certificates and diplomas. He also spent years helping others in prison earn their GEDs, often serving as a mentor and tutor to those seeking to better themselves. 

The “Free Subu” campaign describes his record as:

 “a growing stack of volunteer roles and contributions, a lengthening list of academic degrees and career achievements, notes of commendation and gratitude from supervisors, teachers, and mentees, and a robust network of elders and young people who call on him for camaraderie, advice, and insight.”

After more than four decades behind bars for a crime he did not commit, Vedam now remains in ICE custody while his case is reviewed. Community members and friends are calling for his release and for him to be allowed to remain in the country that wronged him, yet has always been his home. He has lived in the United States for nearly his entire life and his whole family lives here after everything that was taken from him, he deserves to live in the United States, his home. 

For more information on Vedam and ways to support his case, visit the Free Subu website: Free Subu

Related