Infowars founder Alex Jones offered a new settlement plan Friday to pay Sandy Hook families a minimum total of $55 million over the next 10 years, according to CBS News.
The plans for the new $55 million plus percentages of his income streams settlement were submitted Friday night in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, according to CBS News. Hearings involving the final amount are scheduled for February.
A jury declared in October 2022 that Jones would have to pay nearly $1.5 billion dollars in damages to the families of Sandy Hook victims after claiming the elementary school shooting in 2012 was staged by actors. Since then, Jones has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, claiming he has an estimated 50 to 99 creditors which include the Sandy Hook plaintiffs. (RELATED: Alex Jones Files For Personal Bankruptcy)
With reports of the new offer circulating, an attorney for the Sandy Hook families, Christopher Mattei, stated it “falls woefully short” of what the families were originally promised under the bankruptcy laws, CBS News reported.
“The families’ plan is the only feasible path for ensuring that Jones’ assets are quickly distributed to those he has harassed for more than a decade,” Mattei, stated.
The Sandy Hook families claimed during the trial that due to Jones’ continual push that the shooting had been a hoax, the families endured emotional distress both in person and online. The original plan for the families would be to set up a trust, liquidating nearly all of Jones’ assets besides his primary home and other holdings that would be exempt from bankruptcy laws, according to CBS News. (RELATED: Judge Freezes Alex Jones’ Assets, Orders Him To Pay $473 Million More To Sandy Hook Families)
Jones’ bankruptcy file showed he possessed between $1 million and $10 million in assets, with nearly the same amount in liabilities. Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars, additionally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022, claiming they held $14.3 million in assets and $79 million in liabilities.
Free Speech Systems offered to pay creditors roughly $4 million a year with the new plan, compared to the previous $7 to $10 million annually, according to the outlet. The company stated they had estimated a profit of $19.2 million this upcoming year due to different items being sold through the site, with operating expenses estimated at $14.3 million, according to CBS News.
The families, however, have reportedly complained about Jones’ personal spending, which allegedly topped $90,000 a month for 2023, the outlet reported. Jones has not yet publicly commented on the new settlement.