Man Wrongfully Imprisoned for 43 Years Detained by ICE Right After Release

Subramanyam 'Subu' Vedam experienced freedom briefly after 43 years of wrongful imprisonment, only to be detained by ICE

A man recently freed after over four decades of wrongful imprisonment was immediately detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) upon his release.

Subramanyam 'Subu' Vedam, exonerated earlier this month after 43 years behind bars, had barely experienced freedom before Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers took him into custody.

ICE is now planning to deport the 64-year-old to India, a country he hasn't visited since he was nine months old.

Vedam was cleared of a 1980 murder conviction after new evidence confirmed his innocence, concluding a battle his family had fought for over forty years.

Records indicate his conviction was officially overturned on October 2, with his release the next day leading directly to ICE detention.

Reports state that ICE officials are holding Vedam in a crowded facility with approximately 60 other men.

Jason Koontz, a spokesperson for the agency, released this statement: "Vedam is a career criminal with a criminal record going back to 1980. He will remain in ICE custody while the agency organizes his deportation following all relevant laws and due-process requirements."

However, Koontz reportedly did not respond to inquiries about Vedam’s current conditions, including whether he can contact his family or lawyer, or if he is receiving adequate food and shelter.

Vedam has managed to send brief messages to his relatives, informing them: "My name has been cleared, I’m no longer a prisoner, I’m a detainee."

Subramanyam 'Subu' Vedam experienced freedom after spending 43 years imprisoned for a crime he did not commit (CBS News 21)

Although born in India, Vedam was raised in State College, Pennsylvania, and has lived nearly his entire life in the US. His niece, Zoë Miller-Vedam, humorously told USA Today, "We joke that he has more of a Philadelphia accent than anything else because that's the only way he's ever spoken."

In 1983, he was wrongfully convicted of murdering his childhood friend Thomas Kinser, based on weak, circumstantial evidence and coerced testimony.

After numerous appeals and retrials over the decades, prosecutors finally dropped the case earlier this year.

However, due to a 1988 deportation order issued during his second trial, ICE intervened immediately following his release.

"We didn’t even have a moment to hold him in our arms," his sister, Saraswathi Vedam, told the BBC. "He was held wrongly, and one would think that he conducted himself with such honor and purpose and integrity that that should mean something."