CREDIT: (Briana Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
APTOPIX Newtown Shooting-Infowars
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An economist says conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his company Free Speech Systems are worth up to $270 million. The testimony came Friday in front of a jury trying to determine if Jones should have to pay punitive damages to the family of a 6-year-old killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The same jury already ordered Jones to pay Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis $4.1 million in compensation for defamation. Their attorney asked jurors Friday to award another $145.9 million. Jones’ lawyers said less than $300,000 would be fair. Economist Bernard Pettingill, whom the plaintiffs hired to study Jones’ net worth, says records show Jones withdrew $62 million for himself last year.
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