(Bloomberg Law) -- Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims’ families proposed that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones wind up his bankruptcy by paying creditors at least $85 million over 10 years or undergo an orderly liquidation.
The Sandy Hook families, along with an official committee of Jones’ creditors, argued in court papers Wednesday that the 11-month-long bankruptcy case for the right-wing radio host should be brought to a close by February. The creditors laid out a dual-option proposal in light of what they say is Jones’ failure to advance a viable way out of Chapter 11 while continuing to enjoy an extravagant lifestyle costing up to $90,000 a month.
The plan, as described to the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, would allow Jones to undergo an orderly liquidation of his assets or adhere to a 10-year fixed-payment plan with distributions of at least $8.5 million a year. Under the fixed-payment plan, the creditors would agree to release their roughly $1.5 billion in state court judgment awards stemming from Jones’ repeated lies that the 2012 massacre of elementary school students and teachers was a hoax.
Both options contemplate preserving causes of actions against third parties affiliated with Jones and his Infowars program.
“The time has come for Jones to choose whether he is willing to pay his creditors a reasonable portion of what they are owed or would prefer to remain embroiled in costly and time-consuming litigation for years to come,” the group said. “Whatever alternative Jones chooses, the Creditors’ Plan provides a clear path out of the quagmire of these cases.”
In a Nov. 21 court filing, Jones’ attorneys said they were made aware of a forthcoming creditor plan proposal and asked to schedule a status conference on Nov. 27 to discuss a path forward. Jones’ legal team says it’s time to bring the case to a conclusion, and is working on filing its own draft plan by mid-December, the filing said.
An attorney for Jones didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
The Sandy Hook families gained significant leverage in the bankruptcy case last month when Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez ruled that about $1.1 billion in defamation awards were not dischargeable because they stemmed from intentional and malicious conduct.
Jones’ bankruptcy in December 2022 came five months after the parent company to his Infowars show, Free Speech Systems LLC, filed for Chapter 11 relief.
The case is In re Alexander E. Jones, Bankr. S.D. Tex., No. 22-33553, statement 11/22/23.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Wolf in New York at awolf@bloomberglaw.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Maria Chutchian at mchutchian@bloombergindustry.com