Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA: Subu Vedam, a man of Indian descent, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately after being released from a Pennsylvania prison, where he had spent 43 years. He had originally been convicted of a murder he maintains he did not commit.

Vedam, now 64, faces the prospect of deportation to India—a country he left as an infant, only nine months old. His family asserts that he has virtually no connections in India, aside from distant relatives, and they are shocked by ICE’s description of him as a “career criminal,” despite his having spent most of his life behind bars.

The Story of Subu Vedam: A Timeline

1. Subu Vedam arrived legally in the United States as a nine-month-old baby.
2. In 1982, he was arrested on allegations of murdering his friend, Thomas Kisner.
3. A year later, in 1983, Vedam was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. He consistently maintained his innocence but was unsuccessful in overturning the conviction.
4. By 2022, new evidence emerged, indicating that the murder weapon used in Kisner’s killing was not the same as the one discovered in 1982, supporting Vedam’s claims of innocence.
5. On October 3, 2025, Vedam was released, becoming the longest-serving exoneree in Pennsylvania’s history.
6. Mere moments after his release, ICE apprehended him, citing a longstanding deportation order from the 1980s.

ICE explained that this deportation order predated his murder conviction and was related to drug offences from Vedam’s youth. They characterised him as a “career criminal” with a criminal record dating back to 1980 and labelled him a convicted controlled substance trafficker subject to removal from the U.S.

Life Achievements Despite Incarceration

While his family grapples with the deportation proceedings, they highlighted Vedam’s remarkable accomplishments during his imprisonment. He earned three academic degrees via correspondence, graduating with magna cum laude honours, including a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a flawless 4.0 GPA. Vedam is recognised as the first prisoner in Pennsylvania in over 150 years to earn a graduate degree while incarcerated.

“He left India when he was only nine months old… He hasn’t been there for over 44 years. Sending him to a country he does not know, far from those who care for him, would only deepen the injustice he has endured,” said his niece, Zoe Miller Vedam.