Wrongfully imprisoned for more than 40 years, a Pennsylvania man now faces deportation by ICE

After serving 43 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam was finally free.

New evidence exonerated him earlier this month of murdering his former roommate.

But before he could reach his family’s arms, Mr Vedam was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who wanted to deport him to India – a country he had not lived in since he was a baby.

Now Mr Vedam’s legal team is fighting a deportation order and his family is determined to free him from custody for good.

His family is now working to navigate a new and “very different” situation, his sister Saraswati Vedam told the BBC.

Her brother went from a facility where he knew both inmates and guards, where he mentored fellow inmates and where he had his own cell, to a facility where he shared a room with 60 men and where his history of good behavior and mentorship is unknown.

Mr. Vedam reiterated one message to his sister and other family members after the new situation: “I want us to focus on winning.”

“My name is cleared, I am no longer a prisoner, but an arrestee.

More than 40 years ago, Mr. Vedam was convicted of murdering his one-time roommate Tom Kinser, a 19-year-old student.

Kinzer’s body was found nine months after his disappearance in a wooded area with a gunshot wound to the skull.

On the day of Kinser’s disappearance, Mr Vedam had asked him for a ride. While the vehicle driven by Kinzer was returned to its usual location, no one saw it being returned.

Mr. Vedam was charged with Kinser’s murder. He was denied bail, had his passport and green card confiscated by authorities, and was labeled a “foreigner likely to flee.”

Two years later, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. In 1984, he was separately sentenced to two and a half to five years for a drug offense as part of a plea deal. That sentence was to be served concurrently with his life sentence.

All the while, Mr. Vedam maintained his innocence of the murder charges.

His supporters and family members stressed that there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime.

Mr. Vedam repeatedly appealed the murder conviction, and a few years ago new evidence emerged in the case that exonerated him.

Earlier this month, Center County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said he would not seek a new trial against Mr. Vedam.

But Mr. Vedam’s family knew one hurdle remained before he could be released: He still had a deportation order from 1988 based on his murder and drug convictions.

The family expected they would have to apply to reopen his immigration case, Ms Vedam said.

Now the facts of the case are different, she emphasized.

But when he was arrested, ICE cited the immigration warrant as the reason for quickly detaining him at another facility in Pennsylvania.

While he was acquitted of the murder charge, his drug conviction still stands, they said. The immigration agency said it was acting on a lawfully issued warrant.

ICE did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment, but told other US media outlets that Vedam would remain in custody pending deportation.

Mr. Vedam’s family said decades of good behavior, three college degrees and community service while behind bars should be taken into account when the immigration court hears his case.

“What was deeply disappointing was that we didn’t even have a moment to hold it in our hands,” Ms Vedam said. “He was misbehaved and one would think that he behaved with such honor and purpose and integrity that that must mean something.”

The family emphasized that Mr. Vedam’s ties to India – where ICE has said they would like to deport him – are tenuous at best.

While he was born there, he moved to the US at nine months. Relatives who are still alive are distant, Ms Vedam told the BBC.

His community – Ms Vedam, her four daughters and other cousins ​​- are in the US and Canada.

“He’s going to be robbed again and he’s going to miss out on the lives of his loved ones because he’s halfway across the world,” she said. “It’s almost like having his life stolen twice.”

His application for citizenship for Mr Vedam, who is a legal permanent resident, was accepted before he was arrested. Both of his parents were also US citizens.

“We believe that deporting him from the United States now to be sent to a country where he does not have many connections would be another terrible wrong done to a man who has already suffered a record injustice,” his lawyer, Ava Benach, said in a statement to the BBC.