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The US Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Ghislaine Maxwell against her sex-trafficking conviction.
Without providing an explanation, the court declined to hear the former British socialite’s appeal, which means her 20-year sentence will remain in place barring a presidential pardon.
Her lawyer, David Oscar Markus, told the BBC that her team was “deeply disappointed” but would continue exploring legal avenues “to ensure that justice is done”.
Maxwell was convicted for her role in luring underage girls for her former boyfriend, the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, to exploit. Epstein died in prison in 2019.
Family members of late Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre told the BBC that they were grateful for the court’s denial and committed to ensuring she served her full sentence.
The US Justice Department did not immediately comment.
Maxwell was recently interviewed by federal agents in the US as part of an inquiry into Epstein’s sex-trafficking scheme and whether others might have been involved.
She was found guilty in 2021 of facilitating Epstein’s abuse. Prosecutors said she recruited and groomed girls, some as young as 14, between 1994 and 2004, before they were abused by Epstein.
Maxwell’s lawyers appealed against the verdict, arguing she should never have been tried or convicted for her role in the scheme.
Speculation has been rife that US President Donald Trump could pardon Maxwell. The White House has previously said “no leniency is being given or discussed” – a sentiment it reiterated on Monday.
“It’s not something I’ve heard discussed,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, but said that as a general rule, “we don’t comment on clemency requests”.
When asked whether he’d consider pardoning Maxwell, Trump said he “wouldn’t consider it or not consider it”, adding: “I don’t know anything about it, so I will speak to the [Department of Justice].”
The investigative files surrounding Epstein’s case, including grand jury testimony, have become a political flashpoint.
There have been growing demands for their full release amid clamour to understand the extent of Epstein’s association with wealthy and well-connected figures, including Trump.
The Justice Department released more than 33,000 documents at the beginning of September, but it is unclear if this latest release contained all of the previously undisclosed files.
A congressional committee has since released further documents from the Epstein estate.
What’s in Epstein’s birthday book?Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison facility in Texas after her interview with Justice Department officials in July. In those interviews, she denied seeing any inappropriate conduct by Trump during his interactions with Epstein.
The facility, FPC Bryant, is located about 100 miles (160km) from the Texas capital of Austin.
The family members of Giuffre, Sky and Amanda Roberts, and Danny and Lanette Wilson, said in a written statement that they “remain hopeful that the DOJ will realise that she belongs in a maximum security prison, not the country club one she is currently in”.
