The Dispatch Printing Co. had invested $1 million to help finance salvage operations of the ship, which was filled with gold when it sank in a storm in 1857 off the South Carolina coast, killing 471 crew members and passengers.
A federal judge in 2014 ruled that Richard Robol, the attorney for the company that recovered and was awarded most of the loot, had not turned over a full accounting of all the recovered treasure. The judge ordered him to pay the $224,850 in sanctions to the Dispatch.
A federal appeals court in Cincinnati upheld the ruling last year and the justices Tuesday declined to hear an appeal by Robol.
The man who led the salvage operation, Tommy Thompson, has been in jail since December 2015 for refusing to reveal the location of 500 gold coins to investors who had put up at least $12.7 million for his efforts.
The Dispatch is now owned by Gatehouse Media.
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