HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania: A judge ruled on Friday that an Indian citizen, who was taken into custody by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials last year after his Pennsylvania murder conviction was overturned following four decades in prison, could be released.

The decision came a day after a four-hour hearing. During the hearing, Subramanyam Vedam said he did not kill Thomas Kinser in 1980. A lawyer from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security questioned him. Vedam joined the hearing online on April 1 from a detention center in Pennsylvania.

Vedam said he made mistakes when he was young. The U.S. government wants to send the 64-year-old back to India, even though he left the country as a baby in 1962.

The immigration judge said Vedam has truly changed and is not a danger to society. The judge pointed to his work helping other inmates learn to read and his strong family connections.

However, a government lawyer argued that Vedam could still be deported because of past drug convictions. The department said that clearing one conviction does not stop immigration enforcement.

Vedam, also called Subu, was born in Mumbai and moved to the U.S. as an infant. He grew up in Pennsylvania, where his father was a professor. He was close to becoming a U.S. citizen when he was arrested.

The government has one month to appeal the decision. Vedam's lawyer plans to ask for his release on bail. Vedam hopes to live with family in California and has been offered admission to a doctoral program in Oregon.

Last year, a prosecutor decided not to retry him after a judge found that important evidence had been hidden during his earlier trials. Vedam was about to be released in October when immigration officials took him into custody.

Vedam said he had always refused plea deals and had always maintained his innocence. He has been in prison since 1982.

Vedam and Kinser were high school friends and were both 19 when Kinser disappeared in 1980. Kinser was last seen after taking Vedam to buy drugs. His van was later found, and his body was discovered months later in a sinkhole. He had been shot in the head, but the gun was never found.

Vedam was first arrested for drug charges and later accused of murder. At trial, jurors were told he bought a small gun, but they were not told that an FBI report suggested the wound did not match that type of weapon.

A prosecutor later said the case was based on strong indirect evidence, but after so many years, a new trial would be difficult. He also said that 44 years in prison was already a long punishment for a crime committed at the age of 19.

Even though the murder conviction was overturned, Vedam could still be deported because of earlier drug charges. During the hearing, the government lawyer also questioned him about other past offenses like drunk driving and theft, arguing that he should not be allowed to stay in the U.S.