PORTLAND (AP) — A Portland man who said racial bias was a factor when a Superior Court judge sentenced him to 38 years in prison for fatally shooting his roommate has lost his appeal to have his sentence reduced.

The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/1TwAGxq ) reported that the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the sentence of Daudoit Butsitsi on Tuesday, saying he did not sufficiently prove the lower court had erred and his sentence was appropriate.

Butsitsi’s attorney argued his client’s sentence appeared to have been influenced by statements from others in Maine’s Central African immigrant community. Butsitsi is from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The high court said the lower court did consider Butsitsi’s upbringing, but found no evidence the judge was biased.

Butsitsi was convicted of the February 2010 killing of Serge Mulongo.