The Kansas Supreme Court is letting a life prison sentence stand for an inmate who claimed he was improperly forced to stand trial as an adult in a gang-related killing.

The Wichita Eagle  reports that the ruling issued Friday upholds a Sedgwick County judge’s decision to leave intact Sashada Makthepharak’s life sentence. Makthepharak was convicted in a May 2001 shooting in a Wichita area home. He was 16 at the time.

In appealing the sentence, Makthepharak argued that the sentencing judge failed to follow a state law that dictates when juveniles should be tried as adults. But the Kansas Supreme Court found that the judge’s reasoning was valid. The sentencing judge had noted Makthepharak’s “long history with the court system” and the seriousness of the offense.