NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - A federal judge on

Tuesday rejected Charlie Javice's bid to throw out her

conviction for defrauding JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) into buying her

education startup Frank for $175 million, after she said two law

clerks had conflicts of interest by accepting jobs at the bank's

outside law firm.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan said his

clerks' past and future employment at Davis Polk & Wardwell,

including as summer associates prior to their clerkships, "did

not create an appearance of partiality" requiring a new trial

for Javice and co-defendant Olivier Amar, Frank's former chief

growth officer.

Hellerstein, 92, also said there was no proof he relied too

heavily on his clerks, including when the defendants accused a

clerk of "participating in real time" in decisions about

important testimony, and no reasonable person who watched the

entire case would question his impartiality.

"The evidence in this case was strong, and there is no

concern here that an innocent person may have been convicted,"

he added.

Lawyers for Javice and Amar did not immediately respond to

requests for comment after business hours.

Davis Polk has more than 1,000 lawyers according to its

website, and neither the law firm nor JPMorgan ( JPM ) was a defendant

in the criminal case.

Javice, 34, founded Frank in 2017 and won praise for

simplifying college financial aid for students and parents.

Prosecutors said she deceived JPMorgan ( JPM ) by claiming Frank had

far more customers than it actually had. JPMorgan ( JPM ) Chief

Executive Jamie Dimon has called the 2021 purchase a "huge

mistake."

Hellerstein sentenced Javice to 85 months in prison and Amar

to 68 months in prison.

Both were convicted last March of bank fraud, securities

fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud. Javice has appealed

her conviction. Amar is scheduled to surrender on May 5,

Hellerstein said.