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New Delhi: The deportation of Indian-origin man, Subramanyam Vedam, who was wrongfully jailed for over four decades, has been halted by two US courts. Vedam, 64, spent 43 years in jail after being convicted in a murder case. His conviction was overturned earlier this year.
On Thursday, an immigration judge stayed his deportation until the Bureau of Immigration Appeals decides if his case should be reviewed -- a process that may take months. The US District Court in Pennsylvania also stayed his deportation the same day, Vedam's lawyer said, adding that case may be on hold given the immigration court ruling.
Who is Subramanyam Vedam and why was he convicted?
Subramanyam Vedam, also known as Subu, is a legal permanent resident of the US. He moved to the US legally from India with his parents when he was only nine months old. He spent his childhood in State College where his father taught at Penn State.
He was convicted and sentenced life imprisonment over alleged murder of his friend Thomas Kinser in 1980. He was the last person to be seen with Kinser and was twice convicted of killing him, even though there was a lack of witnesses or motive.
His conviction was overturned in August after his lawyers found new ballistics evidence that prosecutors had never disclosed. Vedam was to be released from a prison in central Pennsylvania on October 3 but he was taken straight to immigration custody. He is presently detained at a short-term holding centre in Alexandria, Louisiana.
Why was he being deported?
The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is seeking to deport Vedam for pleading guilty to intent to deliver LSD when he was about 20. His lawyers sought to quash the deportation order arguing that he wrongly spent four decades in prison, where he earned degrees and tutored fellow inmates, and that his wrongful conviction should outweigh the drug case.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Monday that the reversal in the murder case does not negate the drug conviction. "Having a single conviction vacated will not stop ICE's enforcement of the federal immigration law," Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, said in an email.
