UPDATE, 10/05/2025 @ 8:05 p.m. - This story was updated to include comment from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Subramanyam "Subu" Vedam, the State College man whose conviction for first-degree murder was overturned after he spent more than 40 years in prison, is now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after his release from state prison.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections confirmed that Vedam was taken into custody Friday afternoon on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer issued in 1988. He was taken to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County, according to his attorney. Vedam's sister, Saraswathi Vedam, also confirmed his detainment.
"This immigration matter is a remnant of Subu’s original murder conviction which has now been overturned," Saraswathi Vedam said. "Since that wrongful conviction has been officially vacated, and the charges against Subu have been dismissed, we have asked the immigration court to re-open the case and account for the fact that Subu has been exonerated."
Vedam is an Indian-American immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1962 when he was nine-months-old, according to an advocacy website created by Vedam's supporters.
Vedam was scheduled to be released from the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon, where he had been held for the past four decades. A Centre County judge ruled he was convicted based on incomplete evidence, and the Centre County district attorney determined it would be too difficult to retry him after so much time has passed. The district attorney also said Vedam was likely not a threat to public safety.
In an emailed statement to WPSU, an ICE spokesperson said Vedam is a career criminal and a convicted drug trafficker.
"Mr. Vedam is a native and citizen of India subject to a final order of removal that was lawfully issued by a federal immigration judge," the spokesperson said. "ICE routinely coordinates with federal, state, and local partners to take custody of noncitizens who have completed criminal sentences and remain subject to removal from the United States. Mr. Vedam will be held in ICE custody while the agency arranges for his removal in accordance with all applicable laws and due-process requirements."
According to court records, Vedam was charged with small amount of marijuana possession in 2003. Also according to court records, in the 1980s, Vedam sold drugs and was involved with heavy LSD and marijuana use.
