US judge rules against deporting man whose murder conviction was overturned after 44 years in prison

Decision came after hearing in which Subramanyam Vedam, 64, said he didn’t kill Thomas Kinser when he was 19 A judge has cleared the way for the potential release of an Indian citizen who was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody last year after his Pennsylvania murder conviction was overturned following four decades in prison. The decision came the day after the four-hour hearing in which Subramanyam Vedam insisted he did not fatally shoot Thomas Kinser in 1980 and was questioned by a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lawyer. Vedam participated in the hearing remotely from the Moshannon Valley processing center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. “I was young and stupid and did a lot of dumb things back then,” Vedam said. The federal government wants to deport the 64-year-old to India, which he left as a baby in 1962. Adam Panopoulos, a US immigration judge, said Vedam proved he was genuinely rehabilitated and did not pose a danger to the public. He cited Vedam’s efforts to improve literacy among inmates and his close ties to his family, including nieces who have never known him as a free man. Vedam “has grown as a person” and “began to dedicate himself to