In an emotional closing argument Friday, Lewis and Heslin’s attorney, Wesley Todd Ball, told the jury: “We’re asking you to send a very simple message, and that is, stop Alex Jones. Stop monetizing misinformation and lies. Please.” Ball urged jurors to “deter Alex Jones from doing this awful thing again” and “deter others who might want to step into his shoes”. Jones’ attorney, Federico Antino Reynal, argued for a much lower figure, suggesting jurors should multiply Jones’ alleged hourly earnings of $14,000 by the 18 hours Jones said he spoke about Sandy Hook on Infowars, a a sum of about a quarter of a million dollars. On Thursday, in the first phase of the trial, a jury awarded the parents $4.1 million in damages, far less than the $150 million the parents’ lawyers had sought. In his closing remarks, Ball thanked the jury for their decision to award the $4.1 million, saying he had already made a huge difference in the parents’ lives, and asked them to compensate enough to bring the total to $150 million . Punitive damages are a form of punishment for the defendant’s conduct. Jones, head of the Infowars conspiracy media, has repeatedly lied about the Sandy Hook massacre. It spawned conspiracy theories about the victims and their families, prompting multiple defamation lawsuits. He has since admitted that the mass shooting took place. Jones claimed in his deposition that a jury award of just $2 million would ruin him financially. But on Friday morning jurors heard testimony about Jones’ wealth from an economist, Bernard Pettingill, Jr., who estimated that Jones has a net worth of between $135 million and $270 million. Pettingill, Jr., who reviewed years of records for Jones’ Free Speech Systems and Infowars, said Jones used a series of shell companies to hide his money. Jones used two large loans to make it look like he was broke when he really wasn’t, Pettingill, Jr. testified. “Alex Jones knows where the money is, he knows where that money went and he knows that he will ultimately benefit from that money,” Pettingill, Jr. said. After one of the jurors asked about the difference between Jones’ money and his company’s money, Pettingill, Jr. he said “you can’t separate Alex Jones from the companies. He is the companies.” Jones “valued money,” he added, even suggesting that Jones could teach a college course on his techniques. Jones’ scathing rants at Infowars have, for many years, been paired with advertisements for supplements, documentaries, and other products sold by Infowars. Pettingill, Jr. said the money came in, tracing nine different companies owned by Jones. “He’s a very successful man, he’s put out some hate speech and some misinformation, but he’s made a lot of money and cashed it in,” Pettingill, Jr. said. at the kiosk. “My take on him is that he didn’t ride a wave, he created the wave.” Jones testified earlier this week about his alleged financial problems after social media giants like Facebook and Twitter banned his content from their platforms. “I remember him saying that, but the records don’t reflect that,” Pettingill, Jr. said. During closing arguments, Ball argued that Jones has even more money stashed elsewhere and argued that $4.1 million was a drop in Jones’ proverbial bucket. “It’s probably already come back in donations” from fans, Ball said.
