Sandy Hook families who won nearly $1.5 billion in legal judgments against InfoWars host Alex Jones for calling the 2012 Connecticut school massacre a hoax have offered to settle the fine for at least $85 million over 10 years.
The offer was made in Mr. Jones’ personal bankruptcy case in Houston last week. In a legal filing, lawyers for the families said they believed the pennies on the dollar proposal was a viable way to help resolve the bankruptcy reorganization cases of Mr. Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems LLC.
But attorneys have continued to accuse Mr. Jones of an “extravagant lifestyle,” failing to ration his personal spending and failing to preserve the value of his holdings; refusing to sell assets; and failing to produce certain financial documents.
“Jones has failed in every way to serve as the fiduciary mandated by the Bankruptcy Code in exchange for the breathing spell he has enjoyed for almost a year. His time is up,” lawyers for the Sandy Hook families wrote.
The families’ lawyers presented Mr. Jones with two settlement offers: either the liquidation of his entire estate with the proceedings distributed among the creditors; or to pay them $85 million spread over 10 years—increased with 50 percent of all yearly income over $9 million.
Mr. Jones’ bankruptcy lawyer, Vickie Driver, said during a Monday court hearing that the $8.5 million-a-year settlement offer was unrealistic.
“There are no financials that will ever show that Mr. Jones ever made that … in 10 years,” she said.
In a new bankruptcy plan filed on Nov. 18, Free Speech Systems LLC said it could afford to pay creditors about $4 million a year, down from an earlier estimate in the range of $7 to $10 million.
The company said it expected $19.2 million in revenue next year from Mr. Jones’ trademark dietary supplements and various apparel promoted on his Infowars show while estimating its operating expenses (including salaries) to total $14.3 million.
In his most recent financial statements filed with the bankruptcy court, Mr. Jones listed about $13 million in personal assets, including about $856,000 in various bank accounts.
Under the bankruptcy case orders, Mr. Jones had been allowed a salary of $20,000 every two weeks from his company, or $520,000 a year.
Earlier this month, a court-appointed restructuring officer more than doubled Mr. Jones’ pay—to about $57,700 per two weeks or $1.5 million a year—saying that he had been “grossly” underpaid considering his important role in the media company as both a manager and public figure.
Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez rejected the restructuring officer’s decision on Monday, saying the pay raise didn’t appear to have been made properly under bankruptcy laws.
If Mr. Jones declines the families’ offer, the court will decide how much he would have to pay the families and other creditors.
Following the killing of 20 students and six staff members of the Sandy Hook elementary school in December 2012, Mr. Jones made claims on his show that the massacre was a staged government ploy designed to abolish the Second Amendment.
Many of the victim’s relatives sued Mr. Jones for defamation, both in Connecticut and Texas.
During the trials, relatives of the school shooting victims testified about being harassed and threatened by Mr. Jones’ audience, who sent threats and even confronted the grieving families in person, accusing them of being “crisis actors” whose children never existed.
Mr. Jones has since acknowledged the shooting occurred.
He was found guilty in October 2022 and ordered to pay $1.5 billion. He filed for personal bankruptcy under the Chapter 11 protection from creditors relief in December 2022, five months after his company had done the same.
Mr. Jones is appealing the judgments, saying he didn’t get fair trials and his speech was protected by the First Amendment.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
