The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal of the criminal conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein.

The court’s action ends Ms. Maxwell’s attempt to overturn her conviction, meaning her only chance of an early release from prison is likely to be clemency from President Trump, with whom she used to socialize in the Florida and New York party scenes.

Ms. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 on federal charges related to facilitating the crimes of Mr. Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Federal prosecutors have opposed her release. The justices considered her appeal at their so-called long conference, a meeting before the start of the new court term where they discuss which new cases they might add to their docket.

Although the crimes involved took place years ago, and Mr. Epstein died in jail, the case has continued to fascinate the public and plague Mr. Trump. Their nearly 15-year friendship has come under renewed scrutiny in the past few months, after the Trump administration declined to release the complete F.B.I. files from the sex-trafficking investigation into Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell, his former girlfriend.

Ms. Maxwell filed a petition to the Supreme Court in April, asking the justices to overturn her conviction. She argued that her criminal prosecution was barred by a now infamous deal between Mr. Epstein and prosecutors in Florida.