Ghislaine Maxwell appealed against her conviction for child sex traficking and the 20 year sentence she received from a US judge last week.
Maxwell, 60, was convicted by Jeffrey Epstein of trafficking and recruiting four teenage girls to her home for abuse.
Epstein committed suicide in a New York prison cell while awaiting his trial.
Maxwell's appeal was anticipated and will likely take several months.
Her lawyers claimed that Epstein was making her scapegoat for her crimes and called her friendship with Epstein the "biggest mistake in her life".
Judge Alison J Nathan refused to throw out the case. Maxwell's lawyers also argued that Maxwell was abused as a child and that only one juror informed the court.
She also dismissed arguments that Maxwell was not allowed to prepare properly for her trial and that the prosecutors waited too long before bringing their case against Maxwell.
Judge Nathan pronouncing the sentence in June said Maxwell's conduct was "heinous, predatory" and that Epstein had "played an important role in her abuse."
The judge also imposed jail time and a $750,000 fine (PS610,000).
Her lawyer asked for a sentence not exceeding five years.
Maxwell's appeal grounds are still unknown. In Thursday's legal filing, Maxwell's lawyers did not have to provide a reason.
Maxwell addressed her victims at the Manhattan courthouse in June and said that she sympathized with them. She also stated that she hoped that her sentence in prison would give the victims "peace, finality".
Maxwell was taken into custody in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center after her July 2020 arrest.
Since the #MeToo movement arose, the case against the ex-socialite from Britain has been the most prominent. It is the first time that women have spoken out about sexual abuse.
Epstein's crimes, which were reported by the media along with many of the most prominent people in the world, were first documented in 2005. He was sentenced to Florida prison in 2008-09 for a state charge of procuring minors for prostitution.
After numerous lawsuits, he got arrested in New York in 2019.
Maxwell was the victim of at least eight letters from women, each one describing their experiences.
