Three entities, including one that holds the rights to website Infowars, sought Chapter 11 protection in Victoria, Texas, on Sunday. Each estimated liabilities of as much as $10 million, according to court filings. Chapter 11 filings allow a business to keep operating while working on a turnaround plan and pause pending civil litigation. 

Lawyers set up a trust that would pay people suing the companies, and Jones handed over his equity in the entities to the trust. The units in bankruptcy "have no purpose other than to hold assets which may be used by other entities" and their only liabilities are the litigation claims, according to court papers. Free Speech Systems LLC, the ultimate parent company of Infowars, which Jones still owns, isn't part of the bankruptcy filing.

Jones and his companies last year were found liable in a defamation lawsuit brought by relatives of Sandy Hook victims after Jones called the shootings a hoax. A trial in Connecticut to determine the size of the damages has yet to take place. He was also found liable in similar proceedings in Texas.