OAN’s James Meyers
8:50 AM – Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Sandy Hook families who won almost $1.5 billion in their legal battle against Infowars host Alex Jones for calling the 2012 Connecticut school shooting a hoax have offered to settle that debt for less money.
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An offer was made last week in Jones’ personal bankruptcy case in Houston with the families asking for at least $85 million over 10 years.
In the legal filing, lawyers for the families said that they believed the proposal would be the right way to help resolve the reorganization cases of both Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems.
However, in the legal filing, lawyers accused Jones of not limiting his spending and “extravagant lifestyle,” failing to preserve the value of his holdings, failure to sell assets and inability 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.
Additionally, the attorneys of the families offered two options to Jones. The first option was to liquidate his estate and give the proceeds to creditors. The second option is to pay them at least $8.5 million a year for 10 years, plus 50% of any income over $9 million per year.
In response to the offer Jones’ personal bankruptcy lawyer said that the $85 million, 10-year settlement offer was too high and was not something Jones could realistically pay.
“There are no financials that will ever show that Mr. Jones ever made that … in 10 years,” she said.
Meanwhile, in a new bankruptcy plan filed on November 18th, Free Speech Systems said it could afford to pay creditors around $4 million a year, down from an estimate earlier this year of $7 million to $10 million annually.
The company also said it was expecting to make just over $19 million next year from selling merchandise Jones promotes on his various shows, while operating expenses including salaries would total about $14 million.
Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez rejected Jones’ $1.5 million salary, claiming that a hearing needed to be held.
If the Infowars host doesn’t accept the offer, Lopez would determine how much Jones would have to pay the families.
After 20 children and six faculty members were killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, Jones said on his show that the Sandy Hook shooting never happened and was staged.
Currently, Jones is appealing the lawsuit, claiming he did not receive fair trials and that his speech was protected by the First Amendment.
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