Man cleared after 43 years in prison for murder denied bail during deportation fight

A Pennsylvania man who spent 43 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned has been denied bail while he fights deportation

PHILADELPHIA -- A Pennsylvania man who spent 43 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned — only to be taken straight into immigration custody — was denied bail Tuesday while he fights deportation.

Subramanyam Vedam, 64, will remain in custody while he appeals a 1999 deportation order. The Board of Immigration Appeals agreed this month to hear his appeal based on what it called exceptional circumstances.

The Trump administration had initially pursued a quick deportation and moved Vedam to a detention center in Louisiana last fall, before two separate courts intervened.

Vedam's lawyer argued Tuesday that he would have likely been spared deportation and become a citizen if not for the murder case, given immigration laws in place at the time. Vedam would have left prison on a drug charge by 1992, lawyer Ava Benach said.

“It was delivery of LSD on a very small scale. This is not importing tons of cocaine,” Benach said Tuesday. “He is not a danger to the community. We are talking about offenses that occurred over 40 years ago.”