WAUSAU (AP) -- A state appeals court says a man sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the beating and robbery of a Hmong leader and his family received a fair sentence.

The Third District Court of Appeals rejected Pheng Lor's contention that a judge was racially biased and that he considered evidence of Lor's gang association at sentencing.

Lor was 16 in December of 2000 when he and four others allegedly talked their way into the Merrill home of Abraham Vang, director of the Wausau Area Hmong Mutual Association. Lor was eventually convicted of seven crimes, including armed robbery.

In today's ruling, the appeals court also says that Lincoln County Judge Glenn Hartley properly considered Lor's association with an Asian gang in handing down the prison sentence.