In recent court documents submitted last Friday at the Texas bankruptcy court, Alex Jones suggested that the Sandy Hook family should be allowed to accept a settlement that would guarantee them at least $55 million over ten years, with more likely coming from Jones' personal assets. Families who reach an agreement would also receive 70% of the money Jones makes from selling personal assets that are not protected by bankruptcy laws. In return, they would relinquish all legal claims against Jones or any associated parties.
Jones filed for personal bankruptcy in December 2022 following two lawsuit losses and a court verdict ordering him to pay damages for false Sandy Hook conspiracy theories. His company, Free Speech Systems, which operates his Infowars website, filed for bankruptcy in July.
"This bankruptcy plan marks the first time Jones has taken responsibility for the harm he has caused these families," said Jarrod B. Martin, an attorney for some of the Sandy Hook families.
"Our team is carefully reviewing the plan and will share our thoughts at the appropriate time," Martin replied via email to CNN.
CNN asked Jones' attorney for a statement on Saturday. The court set a deadline for the parties to submit a plan for Jones' debt repayment by Friday.
The court filing comes on the 11th anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, which left 20 first-graders and six adults dead.
Jones repeatedly claimed that the 2012 shooting was staged and that the victims' families and first responders were crisis actors. These lies led to numerous lawsuits and a Connecticut lawsuit that went to trial in 2022. Throughout the trial, family members emotionally recounted how these lies led to relentless harassment and exacerbated their grief over their losses.
In previous court filings, the Sandy Hook families' attorneys claimed that Jones did not attempt to reduce his expenses to cover their costs after winning a defamation lawsuit. Instead, they said he continued his lavish lifestyle and had spent approximately $900,000 since filing the lawsuit.
A federal bankruptcy judge ruled in October that despite Jones' bankruptcy filing, he was still legally bound to pay most of the damages awarded to the Sandy Hook family in court.
Last month, the Sandy Hook family proposed in a court proceeding that Jones could pay them at least $8.5 million per year, plus half of Jones' annual income of over $9 million and other non-bankruptcy protected assets. The families would also receive a stake in the free speech platform. According to the proposal, if Jones meets the conditions within ten years, he would regain full ownership of the company and be "released from all liability."
The Sandy Hook families' attorneys stated that if Jones does not accept the offer, they will pursue a full liquidation of all non-bankruptcy protected assets, potentially subjecting Jones to lifelong litigation and legal proceedings.
A judge is scheduled to hold a hearing at the end of February to review the latest proposal.
A federal judge ruled in September that an insolvency proceeding would not shield Jones from over $1.1 billion in damages he owes his family.
Jones was ordered to pay damages in a Connecticut case filed by the families of eight victims and a first responder. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Texas ruled in favor of the families, except for the compensatory damages they were awarded under common law, which exceeded $322.5 million.
Nicki Brown, Lauren del Valle, and Ray Sanchez of CNN contributed to this report.
Additional insights:
Jones is not proposing a specific settlement plan to resolve the Sandy Hook family lawsuit claims in the context of his insolvency. Instead, the settlement proposal that was blocked by the judge involved a division of future payments from Jones' assets, with the Texas families receiving 25% and the Connecticut families receiving 75% of those payments. This proposal was rejected by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez because it exceeded his court's authority and involved dividing assets from Infowars' parent company, Free Speech Systems, which had been dismissed from bankruptcy last year.
The judge suggested that the families and Jones' bankruptcy trustee resolve the issue in state court or return with a new proposal. This decision complicates the proposed sale of Jones' Infowars platform and may create divisions between the two groups of families who sued Jones, those from Connecticut and Texas, who have different priorities in their pursuit of compensation and asset distribution.
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