A federal court on Thursday granted an order that at least temporarily prohibits the U.S. government from deporting a State College man who was detained by immigration authorities just as he was released from prison after his 42-year-old murder conviction was overturned.
The stay of deportation came after Immigration and Customs Enforcement transported Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam from the Moshannon Valley ICE Processing Center in Clearfield County to an unknown location in the pre-dawn hours on Thursday, according to a spokesperson for his family.
After confirming with ICE officials that Vedam had been moved from the detention facility where he has been held for nearly a month, his attorneys petitioned the U.S. Western District Court of Pennsylvania to allow time for their case to withdraw his deportation order to be heard by the Bureau of Immigration Appeals.
“No other details about his whereabouts were disclosed,” and his location remained unknown as of Thursday afternoon, the spokesperson wrote in a statement.
Vedam, 64, was taken into custody on Oct. 3 on a detainer issued in 1988 related to a no contest plea, entered after his conviction for the murder of Thomas Kinser near State College, on charges of receiving stolen property and selling LSD when he was 19.
His attorneys have asked the BIA to waive the deportation order, arguing that it should be withdrawn based on his exoneration in a murder case for which he has been jailed since his arrest in 1982 and his exemplary record as an inmate. Vedam earned three degrees while incarcerated, becoming the first inmate in Huntingdon state prison’s 150-year history to earn a master’s while incarcerated, created and led a prison literacy training program, led fundraising efforts for Big Brothers Big Sisters and tutored other inmates to help them earn diplomas.
“Forty-three years of wrongful imprisonment more than makes up for the possession with intent to distribute LSD when he was 20 years old,” immigration lawyer Ava Benach said.
Vedam was convicted in 1983 and again at a 1988 retrial for Kinser’s murder. Kinser had last been seen by family on Dec. 14, 1980, when he borrowed a van to drive his friend and fellow 19-year-old State College area resident Vedam to Lewistown to buy LSD. Vedam said Kinser dropped him off in State College when they returned and he did not know what happened to him after that.
After hikers discovered Kinser’s body on Sept. 19, 1981 in a sinkhole at Bear Meadows in Harris Township, prosecutors said Vedam used a .25 caliber handgun to shoot his friend in the head. A murder weapon was never recovered, but Vedam’s conviction was based in part on his purchase of a .25 caliber gun, which he said he did not acquire until after Kinser’s death, and a shell casing of the same caliber found under Kinser’s remains. Casings of different calibers were also found in the area.
In recent years, Vedam’s current post-conviction attorneys uncovered evidence not presented at either trial, including documents they say showed that bullet hole in Kinser’s skull was too small to have been made by a .25.
A Centre County judge vacated Vedam’s conviction in August, ruling that “there is reasonable probability the jury’s judgment would have been affected” if an FBI agent’s bullet hole measurements had been presented. Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna announced on Oct. 2 that he would drop the charges against Vedam because, with key evidence and witnesses no longer available, it would be nearly impossible to prosecute the decades-old case.
Born in India during a brief period when his parents returned to their native country, Vedam has lived in the United States since he was nine months old and was a legal permanent resident when he was arrested in 1982.
After he was taken into custody by ICE, a spokesperson for the agency said Vedam is a citizen of India and a “career criminal,” even though he spent nearly his entire adult life in prison.
For a time, immigration law allowed people who had reformed their lives to seek deportation waivers. Vedam never pursued it then because of the murder conviction.
“He was someone who’s suffered a profound injustice,” said immigration lawyer Ava Benach. “(And) those 43 years aren’t a blank slate. He lived a remarkable experience in prison.”
It could still be several months before the BIA decides whether to reopen the deportation case. ICE officials, in a brief filed on Friday, said the clock ran out years ago.
“He has provided no evidence nor argument to show he has been diligent in pursuing his rights as it pertains to his immigration status,” Katherine B. Frisch, an assistant chief counsel, wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
