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 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 Jeffrey Epstein to exploit. Epstein died in prison in 2019.

Family members of Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre told the BBC they were grateful for the court’s denial and committed to ensuring she served her full sentence.

The justice department did not immediately comment.

She was recently interviewed by federal agents in the US about what she knew as part of an inquiry into the sex-trafficking scheme and whether others could have been involved.

She was found guilty in 2021 of facilitating Epstein’s abuse. Prosecutors said she recruited and groomed the girls, some as young as 14, between 1994 and 2004, before they were abused by Epstein, a New York financier.

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 Trump could pardon Maxwell, but the White House has previously said “no leniency is being given or discussed”.

The files surrounding Epstein’s case, including grand jury testimony, have become a political flashpoint amid demands they be released.

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 realize that she belongs in a maximum security prison, not the country club one she is currently in”.