LONDON (AP) — Radical British preacher Anjem Choudary was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for directing a banned terrorist group that a judge said had put many lives at risk.

Choudary, 57, was convicted last week in Woolwich Crown Court for directing the radical Muslim group al-Muhajiroun, or ALM, being a member of the banned organization and for drumming up support for it.

Justice Mark Wall said Choudary was front and center in running a terrorist organization” that “encouraged young men into radical activity.”

ALM was outlawed by the British government in 2010 as a group involved in committing, preparing for or promoting terrorism.