Sandy Hook families offer to settle with Alex Jones for $85 million over ten years

The families of those children murdered during the Sandy Hook school massacre in Connecticut in 2012 have said that they will settle with Alex Jones for $85 million over 10 years. They were awarded $1.5 billion in a suit against Jones, who had initially claimed that the massacre of school children was a hoax.

The offer came after Jones' company, Free Speech Systems, filed for bankruptcy. The options presented to Jones were to sell off his assets and give that money to creditors, or pay $8.5 million per year over 10 years as well as 50 percent of income earned over $9 million per year, the AP reports.

Jones' attorney said that was unrealistic and said that "There are no financials that will ever show that Mr. Jones ever made that ... in 10 years." Free Speech Systems had offered $4 million per year.

Attorneys claimed that Jones should have toned down his "extravagent lifestyle" in order to faciliate payment of the massive award to the families. 

They also claimed that Jones had not provided financial documents, sold assets, or preserved the value of his holdings, the AP reports. Jones has said that he has $13 million in his estate, as well as less than $1 million in cash.

His salary has been $520,000 per year, but he was recently given a raise by a court-appointed restructuring officer to $1.5 million per year. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez rejected this. Lopez would make the decision as to how much Jones willl pay if the parties cannot come to an agreement.

"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," the Sandy Hook families' lawyers wrote.

Jones apologized for his comments and stated that he regretted making the statements calling the veracity of the shooting into doubt.