Lawyers pledge to pursue Jones for ‘every last dollar’

WATERBURY, Conn. — The nearly $1 billion in damages a jury ordered Alex Jones and his Infowars company to pay for defaming the families of eight Sandy Hook victims last week was an overwhelming victory in the families’ quest for accountability. But the fight for the money has only begun.

Lawyers for the families have started to navigate what promises to be a circuitous path to delivering as much as possible of the $965 million verdict, plus court costs, to the families. There is also the $50 million awarded to two other Sandy Hook parents in a trial this past summer, and damages yet to be assessed in an upcoming third and final trial this year.

“We are going to chase Alex Jones to the ends of the earth,” for “every last dollar,” said Josh Koskoff, one of the lawyers for the 15 Connecticut plaintiffs. The group includes eight victims’ families and an FBI agent implicated in the bogus Sandy Hook theories spread by Jones, who for years said that the 2012 shooting that killed 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., was a government hoax and that the families were actors in the plot.

But experts said Wednesday’s verdict was so staggering as to be largely symbolic, since Jones’ empire is likely worth a maximum of $270 million, according to a forensic economist who had testified in the earlier trial.

“Once you pick a number that is way beyond a party’s ability to pay, it doesn’t matter what number you pick,” said Marie Reilly, a law professor at Penn State University. “That number could have been $20 billion.”

Avi Moshenberg, another lawyer for the families, acknowledged that “whether Jones’ company will pay 100 cents on the dollar is an open question.” But, he added, “Justice here means getting that judgment paid, and that’s what we intend to do.”

It is impossible to say where things are headed so early in what could be a protracted process, given Jones’ vow to appeal the verdict, and an ongoing bankruptcy fight involving Free Speech Systems, Infowars’ parent company. But a few potential scenarios are possible, legal and financial experts said.

The families could be entitled to Jones’ future earnings, whether at Infowars or a company he has yet to create, similar to how the IRS can garnish wages. In one sense, that would make the Sandy Hook families Jones’ bosses and make him legally required to turn over the profits from his sales of survivalist gear, iodine drops and supplements such as Brain Force Plus. But that could mean that Infowars, where Jones has for years spread lies defaming the families, would survive and do more harm, presenting a terrible dilemma for them.

In another option, legal experts said the families could sell their claims to hedge funds or other investors at a fraction of their value, which would give them cash upfront rather than waiting years for a payout. The investors would then take ownership of the claims and attempt to profit by investigating Jones’ assets and trying to recover as much of the original judgment as possible.

In a third potential scenario, the bankruptcy court could order the liquidation of Jones’ business. Free Speech Systems and its assets, from real estate to office furniture, could be sold off for cash, which would go to the families.

Jones has vowed to fight at all costs. Last week, he called the verdict a “joke” and urged his viewers to “flood us with donations” to fund an appeal.

“Do these people actually think they’re getting any money?” he said. “For hundreds of thousands of dollars, I can keep them in court for years.”

Lawyers for the families say they are confident Wednesday’s sweeping judgment will survive the appeal process intact.