A Utah man convicted of gang-related robberies could be released from prison 40 years early Kepa Maumau was supposed to spend 55 years in prison, but a new law allowed a federal judge to release him now. (Photo courtesy of Julia Maumau) Kepa Maumau poses in an undated photo. Maumau will be released from federal prison more than four decades earlier than expected, after a judge reviewed his sentence as part of sweeping criminal justice reform legislation called the First Step Act was enacted in 2018. | April 1, 2021, 8:45 p.m. It’s been nearly a year since a federal judge ruled that Kepa Maumau should be released from prison four decades earlier than anyone expected.